{"id":366907,"date":"2018-06-27T00:04:47","date_gmt":"2018-06-26T23:04:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/media-coverage-of-this-case-has-been-sloppy-when-present-at-all\/"},"modified":"2018-06-27T00:04:47","modified_gmt":"2018-06-26T23:04:47","slug":"media-coverage-of-this-case-has-been-sloppy-when-present-at-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/media-coverage-of-this-case-has-been-sloppy-when-present-at-all\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Media Coverage of This Case Has Been Sloppy When Present at All\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Janine Jackson interviewed Sam Menefee-Libey about a J20 prosecution update for the <a href=\"https:\/\/fair.org\/home\/nilay-patel-on-att-time-warner-ruling-sam-menefee-libey-on-j20-update\/\">June 22, 2018, episode<\/a> of <strong>CounterSpin<\/strong>. This is a lightly edited transcript.<\/em><\/p>\n<div id=\"wrapperMI_0\" class=\"wrap-mjp  \" style=\"padding:5px 0px 40px 0px;margin:0px;width:100%\">\n<div class=\"Eabove-mjp\" id=\"Eabove-mjp_0\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"subwrap-MI\">\n<div class=\"jp-innerwrap\">\n<div class=\"innerx\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"innerleft\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"innerright\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"innertab\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"interface-mjp verdana-mjp\" style=\"height:71px\" id=\"interfaceMI_0\">\n<div class=\"MI-image Himg right-mjp\" id=\"MI_image_0\" style=\"width:auto;height:71px;overflow:hidden\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"T_mp3j_0\" class=\"player-track-title left-mjp norm-mjp plain-mjp childNorm-mjp childPlain-mjp\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"bars_holder\">\n<div class=\"loadMI_mp3j\" id=\"load_mp3j_0\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"poscolMI_mp3j\" id=\"poscol_mp3j_0\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"posbarMI_mp3j\" id=\"posbar_mp3j_0\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"P-Time-MI_0\" class=\"jp-play-time\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"T-Time-MI_0\" class=\"jp-total-time\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"statusMI_0\" class=\"statusMI\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"transport-MI\">\n<div class=\"play-mjp\" id=\"playpause_mp3j_0\">Play<\/div>\n<div class=\"stop-mjp\" id=\"stop_mp3j_0\">Stop<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"buttons-wrap-mjp\" id=\"buttons-wrap-mjp_0\">\n<div class=\"mp3j-popout-MI\" id=\"lpp_mp3j_0\">pop out<\/div>\n<div id=\"download_mp3j_0\" class=\"dloadmp3-MI\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mjp-volwrap\">\n<div class=\"MIsliderVolume\" id=\"vol_mp3j_0\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"innerExt1\" id=\"innerExt1_0\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"innerExt2\" id=\"innerExt2_0\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"Ebetween-mjp\" id=\"Ebetween-mjp_0\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"listwrap_mp3j\" id=\"L_mp3j_0\">\n<div class=\"wrapper-mjp\">\n<div class=\"playlist-colour\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"wrapper-mjp\">\n<ul class=\"ul-mjp darken1-mjp verdana-mjp med-mjp childNorm-mjp childPlain-mjp left-mjp\" id=\"UL_mp3j_0\">\n<li><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div id=\"mp3j_finfo_0\" class=\"mp3j-finfo\">\n<div class=\"mp3j-finfo-sleeve\">\n<div id=\"mp3j_finfo_gif_0\" class=\"mp3j-finfo-gif\"><\/div>\n<div id=\"mp3j_finfo_txt_0\" class=\"mp3j-finfo-txt\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"mp3j-finfo-close\" id=\"mp3j_finfo_close_0\">X<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"mp3j_dlf_0\" class=\"mp3j-dlframe\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"mp3j-nosolution\" id=\"mp3j_nosolution_0\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"Ebelow-mjp\" id=\"Ebelow-mjp_0\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>MP3jPLAYLISTS.MI_0 = [<br \/>\n\t{ name: &#8220;1. 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Federal prosecutors have surprised some by vigorously <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esquire.com\/news-politics\/a54391\/how-the-government-is-turning-protesters-into-felons\/\">pursuing<\/a> felony riot charges against some of the so-called \u201cJ20 protesters,\u201d resulting in decades of prison time, even those they <a href=\"https:\/\/wtop.com\/dc\/2017\/12\/closing-arguments-inauguration-day-protest-trial-medic-first-aid-kit-not-vandal\/\">acknowledge<\/a> engaged in no damage or violence but were simply present, and in some cases <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2018\/01\/19\/charges-dropped-j20-trump-inauguration-j20-aaron-cantu\/\">reporting<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps the only hopeful part of what seems a clear effort to criminalize dissent is that the wheels seem to be coming off it. Joining us now to bring us up-to-date is Sam Menefee-Libey, an organizer and member of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.dclegalposse.org\/\">Dead City Legal Posse<\/a>, a community group that\u2019s come together to support <a href=\"https:\/\/www.democracynow.org\/2017\/5\/2\/headlines\/j20_inauguration_day_protesters_facing_up_to_75_years_in_prison\">J20 protesters<\/a>. He joins us now by phone from Washington, DC. Welcome to <b>CounterSpin<\/b>, Sam Menefee-Libey.<\/p>\n<p><b>Sam Menefee-Libey:<\/b> Thanks so much for having me.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_8926911\" style=\"width: 360px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-8926911\" src=\"https:\/\/fair.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Unicorn-Riot-J20.png\" alt=\"Unicorn Riot: Another Trump Inauguration Protester Acquitted at Trial\" width=\"350\" height=\"248\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em><strong>Unicorn Riot<\/strong> (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.unicornriot.ninja\/2018\/another-trump-inauguration-protester-acquitted-at-trial\/\">6\/6\/18<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><b>JJ:<\/b> <b>Unicorn Riot<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.unicornriot.ninja\/2018\/another-trump-inauguration-protester-acquitted-at-trial\/\">reports<\/a> that a jury has just <a href=\"https:\/\/thinkprogress.org\/jury-acquits-j20-protester-assault-police-officer-mistrial-riot-charges-20e90f47ba0f\/\">found<\/a> another defendant not guilty on all but a riot charge, which the judge essentially <a href=\"https:\/\/thinkprogress.org\/jury-acquits-j20-protester-assault-police-officer-mistrial-riot-charges-20e90f47ba0f\/\">dropped<\/a> with a mistrial when the jury deadlocked. We\u2019ve <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2017\/12\/21\/j20-trial-acquitted-inauguration-day-protest\/\">seen<\/a> other jury acquittals, we\u2019ve <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2018\/01\/19\/charges-dropped-j20-trump-inauguration-j20-aaron-cantu\/\">seen<\/a> charges dropped. How many J20 defendants remain at this point, and what do you make of the current status of the government\u2019s case against them?<\/p>\n<p><b>SML:<\/b> So there are 44 defendants still facing trial. There are currently two defendants <a href=\"http:\/\/www.dcmediagroup.us\/2018\/06\/06\/more-acquittals-dropped-charges-inauguration-protesters-trials\/\">awaiting<\/a> a verdict on a trial that started May 14.<\/p>\n<p>At the beginning of the show, you noted a limo was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2017\/01\/21\/politics\/washington-dc-limo-driver-protests\/index.html\">set on fire<\/a> on Inauguration Day. That actually happened five hours after the anti-fascist, anti-capitalist march was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aclu.org\/news\/aclu-dc-sues-dc-police-false-arrests-free-speech-violations-police-abuse-inauguration-day\">kettled<\/a>. So it was an unrelated incident, and that\u2019s been sort of an ongoing question, especially with media coverage. Many stories, especially in mainstream media, have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtontimes.com\/news\/2017\/jan\/24\/anti-trump-protesters-set-muslim-businessmans-limo\/\">used<\/a> the limo fire as sort of a splash page, and it doesn\u2019t have anything to do with this particular case.<\/p>\n<p>So the cases, I think, are looking good right now. There have definitely been some positive developments over the past three weeks, from the Chief Judge Robert Morin of the DC Superior Court <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/local\/public-safety\/prosecutors-withdraw-inauguration-day-rioting-charges-against-7-people\/2018\/05\/31\/2dbb824c-6404-11e8-99d2-0d678ec08c2f_story.html?utm_term=.928b2dc9b3e3\">finding<\/a> that there was an ongoing <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Brady_disclosure\">Brady violation<\/a> by the US attorney\u2019s office, in withholding dozens of videos with exculpatory value from the defense for over a year. That led to the dismissals of charges for ten defendants, and dismissals with prejudice on the conspiracy charges, as well as an <a href=\"https:\/\/thinkprogress.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Govt-MTD-with-Prejudice.pdf\">order<\/a> by the chief judge that the US attorney\u2019s office could not proceed with the theory of the case based on <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Pinkerton_liability\">Pinkerton liability<\/a>, which would make it much harder to engage in the sort of blanket prosecution they\u2019ve been doing.<\/p>\n<p>So things are looking up right now, but they\u2019re far from over. Unfortunately, there were four defendants in the middle of their trial when that Brady violation was found, and the evidence from the videos from <b>Project Veritas<\/b>, that was the subject of the Brady violation, had already been shown in court to the jury. There weren\u2019t really any corrective measures for that. And so two of the defendants who are awaiting verdicts from the jury are set up in a difficult position, having known that there was this Brady violation, that there was this extraordinary development in the case, that wound up not yet having an impact on their trial, and their lives are in the jury\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n<p><b>JJ:<\/b> I\u2019m going to draw you out a little bit on, we\u2019re calling it a Brady violation. It means the prosecutors withheld evidence that could have been exculpatory. In this case, we\u2019re talking about elements from a video from a group\u2014you said it quickly, I\u2019m not sure if folks remember\u2014<b>Project Veritas<\/b>. This is a group <a href=\"https:\/\/fair.org\/home\/npr-unstung-once-again-okeefe-shows-he-shouldnt-be-trusted\/\">we know about<\/a>. You might call them an entrapment group. They\u2019re <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/white-house\/inauguration-rioting-trials-in-chaos-with-dismissals-possible-mistrial-and-talk-of-jury-nullification\">known<\/a> for sleazily editing videos to put forth their particular point of view, but what, if you could tell us, what is the bit that they cut out of the video that was presented to the jury, and why did it matter?<\/p>\n<p><b>SML:<\/b> Yeah, so the US attorney\u2019s office and the Metropolitan Police Department have, throughout the entire duration of this case, over the past 17 months, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2017\/nov\/28\/project-veritas-protesters-trial-trump-inauguration-protest\">used<\/a> a bunch of videos from right-wing sources, including <b>Project Veritas<\/b>, the Oath Keepers, the Media Research Center, <b>Rebel Media<\/b> and others. <b>Project Veritas<\/b> is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sourcewatch.org\/index.php\/Project_Veritas\">known<\/a>, especially, for editing videos, yet the lead detective on the case, Detective Gregory Pemberton, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/UR_Ninja\/status\/1001491077885546498\">admitted<\/a> that he never looked into whether or not the footage that they received from <b>Project Veritas<\/b> was edited in any way, that they had no reasons to believe that it was; they made two small edits on their own. This is what they represented to the court repeatedly, for over a year.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_8926915\" style=\"width: 360px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-8926915 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/fair.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Sam-Menefee-Libey-Portrait.jpg\" alt=\"Sam Menefee-Libey (image: Generation Progress)\" width=\"350\" height=\"439\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Sam Menefee-Libey:\u00a0&#8220;Both the US attorney\u2019s office and the Metro PD exhibited remarkable lack of curiosity about the veracity and authenticity and reliability of the information that they got from Project Veritas.&#8221; (image: Generation Progress)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Then it turned out that they\u2019d actually <a href=\"https:\/\/sputniknews.com\/us\/201806011064992177-Charges-Trump-Protesters-Dropped-Chaos\/\">lopped off<\/a> a more significant portions at the beginning and the end of the video, that included conversations between the <b>Project Veritas<\/b> person and multiple others after the meeting in question, and then a discussion that the <b>Project Veritas<\/b> person had with someone on the phone, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thedailybeast.com\/feds-hid-edits-in-right-wing-video-used-to-prosecute-anti-trump-protesters\">saying<\/a> they \u201cdon\u2019t know about any of the upper echelon stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The defense talked to this person who recorded these videos, and he said that he had no indication that anyone was planning violence, which is the reason that the prosecution claims that video was significant.<\/p>\n<p>Though that\u2019s the gist of that particular video, there are also 69 additional recordings that the prosecution withheld from defense counsel, and again, both the US attorney\u2019s office and the Metro PD exhibited remarkable lack of curiosity about the veracity and authenticity and reliability of the information that they got from <b>Project Veritas<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p>And actually, during the first trial, the day that the prosecution chose to show that video from <b>Project Veritas<\/b> was the same day that the <b>Washington Post<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/investigations\/a-woman-approached-the-post-with-dramatic--and-false--tale-about-roy-moore-sje-appears-to-be-part-of-undercover-sting-operation\/2017\/11\/27\/0c2e335a-cfb6-11e7-9d3a-bcbe2af58c3a_story.html?utm_term=.3c92b8d55fe2\">released<\/a> a story about <b>Project Veritas<\/b> trying to sting them with a fake Roy Moore victim. So that was an interesting confluence of events for the first trial.<\/p>\n<p><b>JJ:<\/b> I\u2019m going to bring you back to media coverage and that linking the protest to violence, and the defendants to violence, even when in many instances that\u2019s not the case that the state is trying to make. They will <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/world\/americas\/j20-protest-trial-latest-updates-not-guilty-verdict-rioting-anti-trump-inauguration-day-washington-a8123071.html\">say<\/a>, \u201cWe don\u2019t have any evidence that this person broke a window,\u201d and that\u2019s been part of the problem with the whole thing, is they are saying, \u201cBut they were there,\u201d or, \u201cThey were dressed like people who we think may have been engaged in something,\u201d but they\u2019ve acknowledged, really from the beginning, that the burning limousine had nothing to do with the people who were arrested. It\u2019s the media who\u2019ve gotten that wrong.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_8926910\" style=\"width: 360px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-8926910\" src=\"https:\/\/fair.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/WaPo-Limousine.jpg\" alt=\"Washington Post photo of burning limousine\" width=\"350\" height=\"244\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em><strong>Washington Post<\/strong> photo (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/local\/dc-police-infiltrated-inauguration-protest-group-court-papers-show\/2017\/04\/17\/f3739f44-236c-11e7-b503-9d616bd5a305_story.html?utm_term=.499bbbf56c5f\">4\/18\/17<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><b>SML:<\/b> The media coverage of this case from the beginning has been sloppy when it\u2019s been present at all. There were notable stories from the <b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/nation-now\/2017\/11\/06\/inauguration-day-protesters-legal-battle-only-beginning-trials-trump\/761380001\/\">Washington<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/nation-now\/2017\/11\/06\/inauguration-day-protesters-legal-battle-only-beginning-trials-trump\/761380001\/\">Post<\/a><\/b>, from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/nation-now\/2017\/11\/06\/inauguration-day-protesters-legal-battle-only-beginning-trials-trump\/761380001\/\"><b>USA Today<\/b><\/a>, from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2017\/02\/22\/politics\/trump-inauguration-protesters-indictment\/index.html\"><b>CNN<\/b><\/a> and several others that tried to link the burning limo to the defendants, and then were very cavalier about not issuing corrections or issuing very minor corrections when they\u2019re called on that. The <b>Washington Post<\/b>, actually, the editorial board, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/opinions\/does-the-punishment-for-inauguration-day-protestors-fit-the-crime\/2017\/01\/25\/0887816c-e339-11e6-ba11-63c4b4fb5a63_story.html?utm_term=.a1f6d808edfd\">released<\/a> an op-ed late last summer saying that no one should have any sympathy for these defendants, and that it wasn\u2019t worth paying attention to. That was a real drag from the hometown newspaper here, but certainly not surprising, based on the <b>Washington Post<\/b>\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/fair.org\/home\/10-of-the-most-sociopathic-washington-post-columns\/\">track record<\/a> in recent years.<\/p>\n<p><b>JJ:<\/b> I found this fascinating: The <b>New York Times<\/b> on December 22 of last year <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/12\/21\/business\/media\/journalist-inauguration-day-protest-not-guilty-rioting.html\">referred<\/a> to a group that \u201ccut a violent swath through 16 blocks of the city, smashing windows of businesses, tossing newspaper boxes into the street and damaging a car.\u201d Now the <b>Washington Post, <\/b>on January 19 of this year, in a story about J20, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/local\/public-safety\/government-says-it-is-dropping-most-remaining-inaugural-day-rioting-cases\/2018\/01\/18\/c6ce259c-fc90-11e7-a46b-a3614530bd87_story.html?utm_term=.d2d4fa2b5e32\">referred<\/a> to a group that, \u201ccut a violent swath through 16 blocks of the city, smashing businesses\u2019 windows, tossing newspaper boxes into the street and damaging a <i>limousine<\/i>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Now, when I see that degree of laziness\u2014I guess both of them were working off of a state press release of some sort, though neither attributed it; both reporters used it as it were their own words\u2014that laziness is indicative, as you\u2019ve just said, of the disinterest that corporate media have shown toward this case. The <b>New York Times<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/08\/18\/opinion\/justice-department-dreamhost-site-trump.html\">editorialized<\/a> against the <b>DreamHost<\/b> data dragnet, when \u00a0prosecutors where trying to get info on anybody who looked at the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.disruptj20.org\/\">Disrupt J20<\/a> website, but you sensed that the paper was making a distinction between the innocent people who might get caught up in that dragnet and those who were charged, who at the time still included photojournalist <a href=\"https:\/\/fair.org\/home\/judge-tells-jury-informing-public-may-be-criminal-conspiracy\/\">Alexei Wood<\/a>\u2014you know, a journalist.<\/p>\n<p>You would hope that they would at least identify with their own, but when the charges were dropped against Wood, the <b>Times<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/12\/21\/business\/media\/journalist-inauguration-day-protest-not-guilty-rioting.html\">reported<\/a> that under the headline, \u201cJournalist Charged With Rioting at Inauguration Day Protest Goes Free.\u201d You know? Nowhere did we see a vigorous defense of protest, of dissent, much less of reporting on dissent from the very folks we would look for it from.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_8926917\" style=\"width: 360px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-8926917\" src=\"https:\/\/fair.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Intercept-Police-Brutality.png\" alt=\"Intercept: Cop Who Wore Pro-Police Brutality T-Shirt at J20 Trial Was Previously Accused of Police Brutality\" width=\"350\" height=\"354\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em><strong>Intercept<\/strong> (<a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2018\/06\/06\/inauguration-protest-trials-police-brutality\/\">6\/6\/18<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><b>SML:<\/b> Yeah, I mean, FAIR\u2019s own <a href=\"https:\/\/fair.org\/author\/adam-johnson\/\">Adam Johnson<\/a> has done really good work looking at how corporate media tend to just reprint state press releases from prosecutors and cops, with only minor alterations, and call it \u201cnews.\u201d I think that\u2019s happened a lot in this case. There are a lot of things at stake in this case, and that there are very interesting origins of it.<\/p>\n<p>And a lot of other things: that the riot statutes that\u2019s being used in this case was passed by Congress before DC got so-called <a href=\"http:\/\/dccouncil.us\/pages\/dc-home-rule\">Home Rule<\/a>; it was actually passed in response to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/07\/11\/nyregion\/newark-riots-50-years.html\">uprisings<\/a> in Detroit and Newark in 1967. This is an effort to bring back an old racist law to prosecute dissenters in the 21st century.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s also been a huge amount of work done by community activists in DC for years around police brutality and the practices of Metro PD that we\u2019ve seen <a href=\"https:\/\/thinkprogress.org\/aclu-sees-dc-cops-over-inauguration-arrests-971b821c9480\/\">linked<\/a> to this case some. Yesterday there was a story from journalist Sam Adler-Bell, <a href=\"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/2018\/06\/06\/inauguration-protest-trials-police-brutality\/\">talking<\/a> about a police witness in this trial who wore a shirt joking about police brutality, and had actually <a href=\"https:\/\/caselaw.findlaw.com\/us-dc-circuit\/1591368.html\">been<\/a> the instigator in a very disturbing incident of police brutality against a family in 2008. So I think there a lot of things that are happening here; questions about the First Amendment, which, of course, the <b>New York Times<\/b> loves and the <b>Washington Post<\/b> loves, but they\u2019re not digging into those questions here.<\/p>\n<p><b>JJ:<\/b> We\u2019ve been speaking with Sam Menefee-Libey, organizer with the DC Legal Posse. Their website\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.dclegalposse.org\/\">DCLegalPosse.org<\/a> , but you can also follow this case at <a href=\"https:\/\/rightsanddissent.org\/\">RightsAndDissent.org<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/rightsanddissent.org\/\"><b>U<\/b><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.unicornriot.ninja\/\"><b>nicornRiot.Ninja<\/b><\/a>. Sam Menefee-Libey, thank you so much for joining us this week on <b>CounterSpin<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p><b>SML:<\/b> Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"et_bloom_bottom_trigger\"><\/span><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\nThis piece was reprinted by <a href=\"http:\/\/rinf.com\">RINF Alternative News<\/a> with permission from <a href=\"https:\/\/fair.org\/home\/media-coverage-of-this-case-has-been-sloppy-when-present-at-all\/\">FAIR<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Janine Jackson interviewed Sam Menefee-Libey about a J20 prosecution update for the June 22, 2018, episode of CounterSpin. This is a lightly edited transcript. Play Stop pop out X MP3jPLAYLISTS.MI_0 = [ { name: &#8220;1. 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