First 10 Occupy Phila. protesters are acquitted

In the first full courtroom trials of Occupy Philadelphia, protesters arrested during their two-month campaign in the city, all 10 defendants were acquitted Thursday on charges of obstructing a highway during an Oct. 23 protest outside Police Headquarters.

"I think the judge was recognizing the validity of their expression of First Amendment rights," said lawyer Paul Hetznecker, who represented several of the Occupy protesters who appeared in Municipal Court before Judge Patrick Dugan.

The sit-in on Eighth Street near Race Street began Saturday, Oct. 22, as people gathered to protest police brutality nationwide. The confrontation lasted overnight, and as noon approached Sunday, Bill Fisher, who heads the Police Department's civil-affairs unit, warned the protesters three times that they would be arrested if they did not leave the street.

The protesters, chanting, "We are peaceful protesters," stayed put and were taken into custody. At the trial, prosecutors showed a video of the arrests.

Two of those acquitted, Erika Bell and Jacob Arnold, said they were relieved at the judge's decision.

"It felt really good, and really empowering and inspirational," Bell said.

Arnold said he believed that the protest had opened "up the public dialogue on police brutality and gave that issue more attention than it usually gets."

Larry Krasner, who also represented several defendants, said the law recognizes that exercising free speech may cause inconvenience, including slowing down traffic. Vehicles were diverted around that portion of Eighth Street during the sit-in.

But Krasner noted that Mummers parades and many other events cause the same challenges.

"Our position was that freedom is inconvenient, and it's inconvenient in a lot of ways," he said, "but it's also reasonable that it be inconvenient."

The District Attorney's Office declined to comment.

Krasner said 50 more people await trial on charges connected to Occupy-related activities.