How to Support the First Round of J20 Trials

This guide from Defend J20 Resistance explains how people can support J20 defendants and what they can expect in DC. Learn more here. Let’s pack the court on Monday for opening statements! 

When to Come

8am on Monday, November 20th & Tuesday, November 21st. (Break for Thanksgiving, and trial continues on 11/27)

Where to Come

DC Superior Court, 500 Indiana Ave, NW Courtroom 203 (2nd floor)

(Judiciary Square, Red line metro OR Archives – Navy Memorial – Penn Quarter, Green line metro)

What to Do

The jury for the N15 trial group has been selected and 6 defendants begin trial this coming Monday morning. They are still facing 6 felonies and 2 misdemeanors, which adds up to a mac of about 60 years they are facing. We need everyone to come out on Monday morning to pack the court in support of the N15 trial group.

Please arrive by 8am so that you have lots of time to get though security; don’t bring anything that they won’t let through; wear snazzy court support clothes if you have them (black if possible, but we’ll have black blazers to borrow for folks who want/need that to be able to ).

The jury will sit at 10:30am on Monday morning and we need everyone seated and situated long before then, because the judge will take the bench at 9:30am to handle preliminary matters. Ideally, we’d like to have the courtroom packed by then.

Expect a full day in court on Monday and Tuesday. Be prepared to listen attentively to the proceedings, to show love to our friends on trial (as they hear the government try to vilify them), and to show respect to the jurors.

The central utility of your presence in court is to provide loving support for the defendants. Being present in the courtroom space so that they are able to observe that loving support, and draw energy from it, is incredibly important.

Please share our fundraiser page with everyone you know! We’re raising $250k to support the J20 defendants through trial starting this month through October 2018: https://fundrazr.com/j20resistance

What NOT to Do

Please don’t do anything that could reflect poorly on our friends on trial, that could cause jurors to have an unfavorable view of them or of us, or say or do anything that could put you (or others) at risk. Whenever you are inside the courthouse (or in the immediate area out front), please assume that you are under surveillance, that the purpose of that surveillance is to gather evidence against our friends, and conduct yourself accordingly.

Obviously, you should avoid saying anything incriminating, but sharing any personal details at all about anyone has the potential to create/trigger unintended consequences.

Similarly, please don’t post anything on social media that could be damaging to any of the defendants. Boost @defendj20’s posts instead. And please direct all media inquiries to the media spokespeople who will be in court each day instead if doing interviews yourself.

Please be aware that the judge has issued very specific guidelines for decorum on this case. It is important that we follow these guidelines in order to avoid adverse outcomes, for those on trial and/or for the rest of us. The judge has ordered that there be no communication whatsoever to jurors.

Additionally, the judge has ordered that cameras/phones should not even be out anywhere on the second floor. Any violation of the judge’s orders (even courteous small talk to jurors) can result in criminal charges, such as contempt of court or jury tampering.

Thank you for all the Love and Support for the N15 Defendants. Solidarity  Forever.