Prosecutors and defense attorneys both argued free-speech rights during opening statements in the criminal trial against Muslim college students accused of plotting to disrupt a speech by the Israeli ambassador to the United States.
LA TIMES Prosecutors and defense attorneys both argued free-speech rights Wednesday during opening statements in the criminal trial against Muslim college students accused of plotting to disrupt a speech by the Israeli ambassador to the United States.
Prosecutors said the so-called Irvine 11 “shut down” Ambassador Michael Oren, preventing him from freely exchanging ideas with those who went to hear him speak at UC Irvine on Feb. 8, 2010. Defense attorneys argued that the students expressed political views in a legal protest and that prosecuting them infringes on their rights.
Orange County Deputy Dist. Atty. Dan Wagner said the defendants orchestrated a protest that interrupted Oren’s speech every few seconds by shouting scripted lines and calling him a war criminal.
“They didn’t want to have an exchange of ideas to see who was telling the truth and who was not,” Wagner said. “What their intention was, make no mistake, was to shut him down.”
Wagner presented jurors with what he called a “batting order” of what prosecutors contend was the planned conspiracy for the protesters to end Oren’s speech.”Usually people in society know what is and isn’t expected,” Wagner said, “… and it happens in this case there were pretty explicit rules given before the talk.”
He said UC Irvine students had been told, ” ‘Yes, we expect civil debate on campus and we relish that…. But we will expect nothing less than civility and courtesy that is becoming this situation.’
The defendants are charged with misdemeanor conspiracy to commit a crime and misdemeanor disruption of a meeting. Seven of them are UC Irvine students and three are enrolled atUC Riverside.
The first of the six defense attorneys, Daniel Mayfield, addressed jurors with a word written in
green: “time.” He told jurors about the time Oren took to visit the university and the time the defendants had to plan their protest within the limits of the law.
Defense attorney Reem Salahi then recited to the jury what the students had shouted, including, “Michael Oren, propagating murder is not free speech.”
“The question before you is whether these students committed crimes when they discussed logistics and how to protest Ambassador Oren,” she told the jurors, adding that the students did it “peacefully, albeit rudely, before walking out.”
Before Wednesday’s proceedings, a UC Irvine professor, a defendant’s father and members of the Southern California interfaith community addressed the media and accused Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas of prosecuting the students for political reasons — singling them out because they are Muslim.
Moutaz Herzallah, whose son Taher is among the defendants, is originally from Gaza and said he immigrated to the United States “to have peace, dignity and honor.” But Rackauckas, he said, “threw the Constitution in the trash” when he pressed charges against the students.
Andrew+Blackadder says
If any Christian was to try and shut down some turban headed moron from spewing his islamic garbage these backward idiots would be screaming about their ”freedom of speech” and yet while they create violence against a person, before even hearing what they have to say, it appears to be somewhat accepted these days as the norm… These 11 mudslimes will get a wee slap on the hand while they walk out the Court Room screaming allo snackbar
muslims (take note of the small ”m” that I always use), are using our freedom of speech and thought as well as choices of lifestyle, religions to join or leave, and they use all that against us as they know playing the Race, minority islamowhatsit Card will get them what they demand. And demanding is what they do.
But then they do call me a racist, nazi, fascist, bigoted, islamowahtsit, because I call them all out on their two faced bullshit.
islam is in every manner a Fascist Religious Cult followed by empty headed brainwashed morons that cant think for themselves.
If their ”god” created them then why are they so ashamed of that creation by covering up the beauty of women.
But then muslim men demand that muslim women cover themselves up from head to toe so that these same muslim men will not get excited and rape them, therefore muslim men admit openly that they are in fact rapists.
Go figure…
Az gal says
Muslums: ugly faces & big mouths. They think we’re only allowed to hear them.
MaemaeMAGA says
Just another case of muslims using the constitution against a Jew to to spread their propaganda and slander. They’re playing a false victim victimhood card. Muslims believe that if they’re not supreme over all others they feel that their rights are being violated. It’s their Supremacist mindset that justifies them doing this. They don’t care about others rights because they deflect alway from what they’re actually doing to others while claiming to be victims of what they’re actually doing to others. Typical Nazi deflection tactics and when you see them smirking they know they’re just doing it to gain Supremacy under the guise of victimhood. They will accomplish their goal because 99% bow to their every charade.
BareNakedIslam says
I don’t know about 99%, but at least 50% do.
bobm says
they are brainwashed from infancy to hate .. Jews and all others… Their pathology is fascist in spirit and should be made fundamentally a deportation crime in America …and Europe.