Robert Middaugh-Olivarria was served with a Federal arrest warrant over 4 years ago, aledging that he assaulted a Federal officer, wore a mask to evade recognition in the comission of a crime and carried a concealed dagger during a July Fourth Demonstration in Los Angles california. The incident in question took place in 2000 in front of the Westwood Federal building. An Anti- immigration hate group rallied on the south side of Wilshire Blvd. This was with permission granted by the Federal Authorities. Meanwhile, anti-racist demonstrators gathered on the north side of Wilshire Blvd., to conter-demonstrate against the racist anti-immigration rally. In response to racial slurs and other taunts, a contingency of anti-racist protesters crossed the street and conflict ensued. Federal Officers swiftly intervened on behalf of the anti-immigrant protesters (surprise!). During the scuffle, unknown person(s) allegedly usied unopened cans of soda as projectiles. According to the prosecution's complaint, a can exploeded and splashed one of the officers with the carbonated contents. The officer (Thomas G. goldsmith) proceeded to arrest robert for "assaulting an officer". In this case, BEING SPLASHED WITH SODA supposedly warranted Federal Assault charges. During past proceedings of court conferences leading up to trial, Robert still remains on Federal bail, but the terms of his house arrest have been lifted. TheThe charge of wearing a mask to evade recognition in the commission of a crime has been dropped. Robert's trail is to commence, following a final conference between the Federal Public defender and the Prosecutor, on January 20th 2004 at Hon. William Matthew Byrne, Jr. United states District Courthouse 312 North Spring street Los Angeles, CA 90012 at 9:00 am Robert has been active with several diverse groups and has organised around a variety of issues, such as police brutality, racism, Indigenous relocation, environmental destruction, animal rights, nuclear proliferation, and militarization of the Mexican border. The disparity in this case between what occurred and the charges filed against Robert is an outrage. clearly, he was targeted for his outspokenness and his political activities. Please show your support in the spirit of court solidarity.

Is it possible you're gilding the lily a bit?

The poor boy is being charged with throwing a soda can at the officer, not splashing the officer with soda.

The fact that he missed means that he is charged only with assault. If he had hit the officer, it would have been assault and battery.

It sounds as though the prosecutors have been acting quite responsibly here. They've dismissed some of the charges and relaxed the house arrest.

If only Ruckus had acted a bit more responsibly,he wouldn't be in this pickle.

..."progressives" and "activists" are exempt from all accountability for their actions.

Just ask 'em.

nonanarchist

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Activists take way more crap for what they do than the general public.

If a cop was dealing with a crowd of sports fans and someone tossed a can and missed, they *might* try to go after the guy. When protesters are involved, they'll make a little more of an effort.

When punk rock kids are involved, it's even worse. Riot cops hate punks. With a passion! So, if *anything* happens, they want to take the guy down, and slap him with the most outlandish charges.

They know the punk won't get much public sympathy. First off, they look odd. Second, under the scary exterior, they know that most punks are the smartass skinny kids that the riot cops (who wished they were jocks, but couldn't cut it) hated in high school. They know the punk probably won't fight back in court.