Dan Choi, Now Discharged, Sees DC Protest Charge Dismissed

Dan82 · Jul 21, 2010

http://www.gaycitynews.com/articles/2010/07/20/gay_city_news/news/doc4c465ff7a178c126438367.txt

When charges of failing to obey a lawful order against Dan Choi and James Pietrangelo were dismissed on July 14, GetEqual, a newly minted activist group, quickly issued a press release.

“Today, truth was the victor against a demeaning, discriminatory law known as Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” Choi said in the statement. “We won’t stop pressing for repeal and pressuring those standing in the way until the day comes when not one more gay or lesbian servicemember is fired. And, as of today, the president refuses to tell us when that day will actually come.”

The two former military servicemembers were discharged under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and were arrested after handcuffing themselves to the fence surrounding the White House to protest that policy. They drafted a subpoena seeking President Barack Obama’s testimony in their trial, so the dismissal was seen as a win against the Obama administration on some gay blogs and in the GetEqual press release.

Truth, of course, can be relative.

Choi and Pietrangelo were prosecuted by the District of Columbia government, not the federal government. After receiving queries from reporters, the district released a statement saying it had “determined that we could not maintain the charge.”

The misdemeanor makes it unlawful to remain on a sidewalk or street after being told to move by a police officer. The district concluded that Choi and Pietrangelo had moved to a ledge above the sidewalk after being told to move and just before the handcuffing.

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“As such, he was not blocking pedestrian traffic,” the statement read. “Once that was realized, the focus of the investigation shifted to what happened immediately prior to his handcuffing himself... After interviewing law enforcement we determined that the defendant had not been asked to move on at that point. Therefore, we could not prosecute him for any activity prior to the handcuffing either.”

The subpoena was never served on the Obama administration...
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Dan Choi, Now Discharged, Sees DC Protest Charge Dismissed

Dan82 Full Member

Dan82
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