Unicorn Riot

Cmndr. Seville was shown and asked about several different videos showing officers using large amounts of OC spray on protesters who were walking away from police with their backs turned.

Cmndr. Deville was shown DC Metro Police (MPD) use-of-force guidelines governing the use of OC spray, which says officers must issue a warning before spraying, & should only use it under certain clearly established conditons. Video was shown of cops macing protesters w/o warning

Court in first batch of #J20Trials is now in recess until 9:30 AM on Monday. Today mostly consisted of defense cross-examination of DC Police Commander Keith Deville. Cross-examination is not over and will resume Monday morning. A lot was gone over in hearing that just let out

Correction: NLG legal observers (tweeting fast outside courtroom & autocorrect is sneaky)

The defense showed several police videos showing officers striking protesters and MLB legal observers in the back with batons as they were walking away from officers. Deville said he considered these incidents to be a "correct" application of police tactics. #J20 #J20Trials

Defense also showed Cmdr. Deville parts of DC Police Standard Operation Procedures (SOP) which mandate the reading of dispersal orders before surrounding a group of protesters. Deville admitted no dispersal orders were given and again claimed the SOP did not apply to #J20 march.

The defense then showed provisions of the First Amendment Rights and Police Standards of 2004, which says police must be able to identify & arrest specific people responsible for specific crimes before encircling a group. Deville claimed these provisions did not apply on #J20.

The defense also got Commander Deville to confirm he had decided to surround and arrest the entire protest march within a few minutes of the beginning of the event. He defended this and other choices by saying the march was "not First Amendment related" bc of "riotous behavior"

Deville confirmed that officers could have instituted rolling road closures for the anti-capitalist antifascist march, but decided ahead of time not to.

The defense pointed out that by Deville's own words, MPD usually 'facilitates' unpermitted marches by doing rolling road closures. Defense pointed out that on #J20, Deville, rather that 'facilitating,' deployed riot cops to the march before it ever left Logan Circle that morning.

Another 15 min recess as defense continues cross-examining Cmndr Deville, who was in charge of Civil Disturbance Units deployed at protests during Trumps inauguration in DC. Deville' s orders to cops on #J20 repeatedly contradicted DC Police Standard Operating Procedures (SOP)

Today @DCPoliceDept Commander Keith Deville admitted not following policies for dealing with protest events on Trump's Inauguration Day, despite admittedly being aware of the policies. Yesterday, he showed an obvious personal political bias against anarchist protesters. #J20https://twitter.com/UR_Ninja/status/935990866077892608 …

In arguments before today's testimony, Assistant US Attorney Kerkhoff from @USAO_DC argued that DC Police Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) were not legally 'binding.' (SOP in question was actually drafted pursuant to the First Amendment Rights and Police Standards Act of 2004)https://twitter.com/UR_Ninja/status/936300978118316035 …

DC Police Standard Operating Procedure for dealing w "first amendment activity" requires commanders to try to contact organizers of unpermitted protests to try to address any potential issues. Deville admitted on the stand he did not do so on Jan 20 before ordering a mass arrest.

Cross-examination of Cmndr Deville began but didn't get very far before Judge Leibovitz called lunch. After lunch defense expected to resume pointing @DCPoliceDept's policies for dealing with protests, which Deville helped write, that were ignored or violated on Inauguration Day.

Defense attorneys and supporters of the defendants have long alleged that the blanket felony charges are in part an effort to minimize civil litigation stemming from police brutality against Trump inauguration protesters.

One bike officer's body camera showed him plowing at high speed into a protester from behind, with maybe a second's warning, forcefully knocking the person face down onto the pavement. Other officers could be seen beating people with batons who were simply standing in the street