It all began on the night of Halloween in 2015. I was in Royal Oak, Michigan with my close friends Jeff, Darryl, and Devyn. We were leaving a bar at close and gathering our group together when six white police officers approached us from behind and one of the officers, suddenly and without a single word, pushed Jeff violently in his back. Jeff asked the officer to please not touch him and continued walking away. The officer responded by pushing him even harder and swearing at him and asking him who he thought he was. Jeff continued walking away and asked the officer who he thought he was and was tackled from behind by the officer and slammed up against a nearby car. Immediately, two additional officers began violently pulling on him and slamming him around against the car. He was not resisting at all and was simply asking why they were arresting him. I witnessed the entire incident and was utterly horrified. I felt that I had to say something after witnessing such an incredible injustice, so I asked an officer that was nearby and not involved in Jeff’s unlawful arrest why they were arresting him. I tried to film what was happening, but my cell phone battery was too low, so in desperation I started calling out to the crowd and asking them to please film what was happening. The officer I had approached clearly did not like this and began telling me to “shut the fuck up”. I expressed to him that I had rights and that this wasn’t a dictatorship like Nazi Germany (not my most diplomatic moment, I know) and the police could not just arrest and drag people off of the streets for no reason. This was met with further aggression and I was arrested for expressing myself verbally. I did not threaten violence. I did not try to incite the crowd to commit a crime. I had simply witnessed my best friend of over 15 years being brutalized by a public servant and was expressing my dismay and concerns of legality and exercising my constitutional right to criticize the government. As a result, we spent the night in jail and would go onto spend the next 8 + months immersed in the dysfunction of our criminal justice system.
Despite how the events unfolded, Jeff was arrested for disorderly conduct and I was arrested for disorderly conduct and obstruction of a peace officer. We both felt very deeply that our basic civil liberties had been violated and we decided to fight this at all cost in court. We turned down every deal the prosecution offered and made it clear to the court that we were taking a principled stand against a clear injustice. After failing to reach a pre-trial resolution with an overzealous prosecution, we were forced to go to trial on June 27th, 2016. After two days in court, Jeff was fully vindicated and acquitted by a unanimous jury. I was unanimously acquitted for the obstruction charge (i.e. interfering with the arrest), but I was found guilty of disorderly conduct under a local city ordinance for loud and obscene language.
The punishment was severe. The prosecutor claimed that Jeff and I had wasted the courts time (despite defeating 2/3 of the accusations) and would not agree to an assessment of fines. Instead, I was ultimately sentenced to the following:
One year of reporting probation
One year ban on entering any bar or club
One year ban on consuming alcohol (on top of a 8 month ban during the court proceedings)
One year of random alcohol/drug screening (which includes being forced to strip for a stranger that observes every moment of urination for $50 per visit)
40 hours of community service
One anger management class
$1,125 in fines and court fees
All of this on the basis of the words that came out of my mouth during an incredibly extreme situation that was created by the Royal Oak Police Department when their veteran officer (whom happens to be in charge of sensitivity training for the department) PUSHED a law abiding American citizen (they admitted on the stand that we we were all obeying the law when they observed us). An officer that lied on the stand under oath and continues to serve without any form of reprimand. I am shocked and dismayed at the complete lack of justice and disrespect for the fundamental tenants of a free and open society. These are troubling times indeed.
Jeff and I are planning on fighting this injustice with an appeal of my criminal conviction and civil rights lawsuit. Our lawyer feels we have a very strong case on both fronts. We have exhausted thousands of dollars in legal expenses to fight for our basic rights and dignity. It is our intent to continue this fight for justice and to hold those members of the ROPD who violated their duty to the public accountable for their actions that fateful night in fall 2015. It is with humility that we ask for your assistance in raising funds to continue this fight. Please donate what you can. I am confident we can win this thing if we raise just a few thousand dollars to cover the expenses of our lawsuit filings. Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
Andrew
Please visit Funded Justice or click here for more information.
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