This is being written by a friend of Kurt, and is not authored by him.
Kurt was brutally tackled and arrested with several others, including one person in a wheel chair, while attending a protest countering Jim Gilchrist's meeting in Garden Grove on May 25th, 2005.
Kurt is a soft spoken, non-aggressive guy who stands up for justice. Based on my knowing him as a friend, I would assert that Kurt's Japanese American heritage has served as a reminder of how the dis-United States has often railroaded entire races of people disregarding their so-called "inalienable" rights, and I think has played a role in his persistence to stand with all exploited races and peoples.
His long on-going court proceedings have now left him with the solitary option of a jury trial as he continues to stand by his innocence.
Here is his post authored sometime today after his court proceeding:
Bulletin Message -----------------
Date: Feb 24, 2006 7:28 PM
after 9 months of fighting, its official...
...many of us didn't even imagine that it would get this far.
this morning, all district attorney offers that have been made have been rejected and taken off of the table:
I am going to jury-trial.
I still maintain my innocence, although it still seems like i'm "guilty until proven innocent".
to all my dear friends, family, and people who i've been fortunate enough to meet or gain support from during this stressful time in my life, i thank you for helping me stay strong.
i hope that we will be victorious. i know that i have been keeping my case low key recently and have left a lot of you wondering how my case is doing, and I apologize. As of now, all plea-bargain offers are off the table, so all bets are off; its time to go full speed ahead.
i will still need support from the community.
you can expect to see me go to trial at the end of March / early April.
"they are able to make the victim look like the criminal, and the criminal look like the victim...and if you and i don't awaken and see what this man is doing to us, then it'll be too late."-Malcolm X