Judge Refuses to Drop Charges Against Black Lives Matter Protesters in Worcester
Friday, September 11, 2015
Robert Blackwell Gibbs, 40, of 584 West Boylston Street.; Sonya Conner, 34, of 566 Pleasant Street; Julius R. Jones, 35, of 25 West Street; and Kevin M. Ksen, 49, of 5 Shawmut Avenue were four of roughly 50 people blocking traffic in Kelley Square chanting ‘I Can’t Breathe’ on January 19.
SEE VIDEO BELOW: Kelley Square Black Lives Matter Protest
According to the District Attorney’s office, Judge Harbour refused to drop these charges because there was enough evidence against the four that substantiated a disturbing the peace charge.
The protesters will be back in court on November 9 for trial.
Protesters Had Their Chance to Have Charges Dropped
As GoLocalWorcester reported, City Manager Ed Augustus offered to have the charges against the four protesters dropped back in April.
Augustus proposed to have the Worcester Police Department not seek charges against the protesters so long as they would refrain from blocking public streets in the future.
However, the protesters declined.
In a released statement, Augustus said, “The residents of Worcester have the right to traverse public streets unimpeded. The city has the responsibility to protect the right to protest, but that right must be carefully balanced against our duty to maintain public safety. As chief conservator of the peace in the city of Worcester, my job is to balance those competing interests. The city can not and will not allow unauthorized blocking of public ways, no matter the reason.”
Protester Gets National Attention
Julius Jones directing Kelley Square protest
The four and a half minutes that the protesters spent blocking the street was meant to parallel the four and a half hours that Michael Brown's body laid in the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, according to the protesters.
"Our goal during these four and a half minutes, and beyond, is to create moments of public reflection on the fact that Black people are treated with a disregard for their life. The mistreatment, murder, and violence must cease at once." according to a statement from Jones at the time of the protest.
Jones, the lead organizer of Worcester’s Black Lives Matter group, has been gaining national attention recently for his run-in with presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in early August at a campaign event in New Hampshire. He has appeared on MSNBC, CNN, and Comedy Central to discuss his questioning of Clinton and the Black Lives Matter protests across the country.
However, just week before his interview of Clinton, he was thrown out of a Worcester City Council meeting for verbally attacking City Councilor Michael Gaffney.
Black Lives Matter Protest: Jan 19, 2015:
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