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Inauguration

President Maduro Assumes A Third Term: Prospects And Problematics

January 25, 2025 Roger D. Harris, Popular Resistance. , , ,
The first thing greeting me as I disembarked from my flight in Caracas was a wanted poster for one Edmundo González Urrutia. The reward was $100,000. Not to be outdone, the US had slapped a $25 million bounty on the head of President Maduro and lesser amounts on other Venezuelan leaders. Both González and the incumbent president, Nicolás Maduro, claimed that he would be the one to be inaugurated in two days. I had come to accompany the inauguration and for the concurrent antifascist festival. 

The Undeclared Objectives Of Edmundo González’s Tour

January 9, 2025 Misión Verdad, Orinoco Tribune. , , , , ,
On January 3, the former presidential candidate from the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), Edmundo González, began a tour of Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Panama, and the United States. Last September, he asked for asylum from the Spanish government and subsequently fled there after a negotiation with the Venezuelan government that completely dynamited his credibility. His visit to these countries, where he has been received as a supposed “president-elect,” has as its fundamental objective to position, once again, the Venezuelan question on the regional scene, in view of the imminent rise of Donald Trump to the White House, relying on the governments most aligned with Washington’s foreign policy on the continent.

Venezuela Launches Security Deployment For Maduro’s Inauguration

January 5, 2025 Orinoco Tribune. , , , ,
The Bolivarian National Armed Force (FANB) of Venezuela launched a special security deployment to guarantee peace and security during the inauguration of President Nicolás Maduro, scheduled for the coming Friday, January 10. This was reported by the head of the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM), Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Granko Arteaga, who detailed that more than 1,200 military personnel are participating in this deployment. “We are going to guarantee peace, to give security to the people, we are going to guarantee that on January 10, President Maduro is sworn in, and we will be sworn in with him."

Will The US Military Intervene In Venezuelan Inauguration To Force Regime Change?

December 17, 2024 Roger D. Harris, Popular Resistance. , , , , ,
Ten days before Donald Trump will be inaugurated in Washington DC on January 20, there will be another inauguration in Caracas. Two contenders claim they will receive the Venezuelan presidential sash. Nicolás Maduro’s claim to the presidency is backed by the finding of the Venezuelan electoral authority (CNE) that he won 51.95% of the vote in the July 28th contest. This was subsequently confirmed by their supreme court (TSJ), after a thorough examination of the voting records. Edmundo González Urrutia’s claim is based on informally collected voting tallies from 70 to 80% of the precincts showing that he won anywhere from 55 to 75% of the total vote (depending on the source). In contrast, the official CNE electoral authority found he lost with 43.18% of the vote.

#DontRentDC Trends As District Residents Brace ForMore

January 11, 2021 David Matthews, Fox DC. , ,
Washington - More right-wing demonstrations are planned in the nation's capital, and District residents are urging short-term rental hosts to keep their properties vacant in an attempt to limit the damage. The hashtag #DontRentDC is trending online following news that far-right activists are organizing more gatherings starting Jan. 16 in opposition to Joe Biden's inauguration. One such gathering is called the "Million Militia March." Thousands of Pres. Trump's supporters traveled to the nation's capital this week before storming the U.S. Capitol in a violent raid Wednesday that led to five deaths. 

Lead Prosecutor In Trump Inauguration Protest Trial Sanctioned For Due Process Violations Has Been Made Head Of Her Department

August 30, 2018 By Chip Gibbons, Rightsanddissent.org , ,
DC jurors weren’t particularly impressed with Assistant US Attorney Jennifer Kerkhoff’s claims that attending a protest makes one part of a conspiracy, as they failed to convict any of the nearly 200 people arrested during an anti-Trump protest. And Chief Judge Robert Morin, was similarly unimpressed by Kerkhoff’s decision to withhold evidence from the defense and mislead the court about it, which is why he sanctioned the prosecution. Yet, someone at the US Attorney’s Office must have been impressed, as since her ignominious defeat Kerkhoff has been promoted. From January 2017 to July 2018, the US Attorney’s Office attempted to criminalize protest itself through felony prosecutions of Trump Inauguration (J20) protests. According to their shocking theory, anyone who attended a protest was part of a criminal conspiracy. Acts such as marching or chanting were elements of a crime.

Last Remaining Charges Dismissed Against Trump Inauguration Protesters

July 7, 2018 By Chip Gibbons, Rightsanddissent.org , , , ,
The US Attorney’s Office (USAO) have announced they are moving to dismiss without prejudice all charges against the remaining 38 protesters arrested during Donald Trump’s Inauguration. The charges stem from an anti-capitalist, anti-fascist protest march, during which DC police indiscriminately deployed “less than lethal” weapons against protesters before arresting 234 people en masse. These arrests were made not on the basis of probable causes based on individualized suspicion, but instead based on geographic proximity to where vandalism was alleged to have occured. Although similar arrests in the past resulted in the city of DC paying out millions to the arrested for violating their constitutional rights, the USAO decided to pursue unprecedented mass felony charges against around 200 people, including not just protesters, but journalists and medics.

More Acquittals, Dropped Charges In Inauguration Protesters’ Trials

June 8, 2018 John Zangas, Dcmediagroup.us , , , ,
Washington, DC–A defendant in the Inauguration Day protest trials was found not guilty by jury trial on Monday. Casey Webber was acquitted of all felony and misdemeanor charges against him stemming from the mass-arrests of 230 protesters during January 20 protests. The trials have come to be known as the J20 trials. Three other defendants are still waiting jury verdicts in the trial, which began on May 14. The jury told Judge Katherine Knowles on Tuesday, that they were deadlocked but she returned them to the jury room until they reached verdicts. Webber said that though his trial was over and has resulted in a positive personal outcome, he did not feel any relief due to seeing the three other defendants in his trial anguishing over the possible outcome.

Judge Finds J20 Prosecutors Failed To Disclose Exculpatory Evidence, Mulls Sanctions

May 24, 2018 By Chip Gibbons, Rightsanddissent.org , , ,
The prosecution in the J20 case was dealt another major setback today as Chief Judge Robert Morin found that they failed to disclose to the defense parts of an undercover video containing clearly exculpatory evidence. An edited version of the video was part of the prosecution’s case-in-chief during the first J20 trial and was expected to be so in an upcoming trial. Now, with the prosecution facing sanctions, there are questions as to whether they will be allowed to show the video at all. Yesterday, attorneys for a group of J20 defendants slated to go on trial in June filed a motion alleging the prosecution withheld exculpatory evidence. Under what is commonly known as the Brady Rule, it is a violation of a defendant’s constitutional right to due process for the prosecution to be aware of such evidence and not turn it over to the defense.

Second Trump Inauguration Protest Trial Begins

May 22, 2018 Staff, Unicornriot.ninja , , ,
Washington, DC – The second trial of protesters mass-arrested at an ‘antifascist, anti-capitalist’ march during President Trump’s inauguration on January 20 (J20), 2017 has begun in DC Superior Court. After two days of jury selection, the jury was empaneled Tuesday afternoon, and opening arguments began around 10:30 AM on Wednesday, May 16. In her opening statements, Assistant US Attorney Jennifer Kerkhoff relied on the same rhetorical devices she used in the first trial, giving dramatic descriptions of property damage and invoking the image of a mass of protesters in a “sea of black.” As in the first trial, she introduced a series of large map boards indicating where property damage took place along the route of the protest march, a piece of evidence that also figured heavily in the previous trial.

Seven Things You Can Do To Support The J20 Defendants

November 28, 2017 Staff, crimethinc.com , ,
By Staff of Crimeth Inc - The inauguration defendants aren’t an isolated case. The broad use of conspiracy allegations will have a massive impact on all movements for social justice. The government hopes to set a precedent they can use to threaten anyone with life-altering felony charges and prison time on the basis of political affiliations. If the prosecution wins by turning ordinary aspects of protest organizing into evidence of “conspiracy,” this will stifle dissent of all kinds. Trump came to power by denying the rights and humanity of Mexicans, Muslims, the LGBTQI community, and people of color while promising to intensify policing. He refuses to denounce avowed neo-Nazis even when they murder anti-racist protesters, yet he has made sure that the J20 defendants face the very worst that the law can deliver. His first day in office coincided with an immediate crackdown on political dissent not seen for decades. If you are a part of an organization, please publish a solidarity statement expressing support for the defendants. Now is the time for prominent activists and social justice figures to speak out. You can find an example of a solidarity statement here from the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America. Write your own! You can also sign a petition demanding that the charges be dismissed.

As Trial Begins, Trump Protest Attendees Face 60 Years In Prison

November 17, 2017 Chris Steele, truth-out.org , , ,
By Chris Steele for Truthout - A combined total of 12,000 years in prison is what close to 200 protestors, journalists and legal observers are facing from attending a protest at the January 20 inauguration of President Donald Trump. After a superseding indictment, the US prosecution is seeking to charge each person with 60 years for allegedly urging a riot, breaking less than 10 windows and conspiracy charges. The US Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia claims that the property damage totals to more than $100,000. DC police spent $300,000 on weapons and equipment for the inauguration and just added $150,000 to the DC budget to review police conduct during the inauguration. While many lawyers are calling the blanket felonies and excessive charges unprecedented, civil liberty advocates are worried about the precedent these extensive charges and grandiose metadata subpoenas will have on chilling free speech and stifling dissent. Social activist and community organizer, Carlo Piantini, who is a J20 defendant explained in an interview with Truthout that, "Charges like these are intended to silence communities when the time comes for people to resist, whether that be the activist community, the anarchist community, or any other."

Nurse Fights ‘Collective Punishment’ Of Trump Inauguration Protesters

November 16, 2017 Mark Hand, thinkprogress.org , , ,
By Mark Hand for Think Progress - Britt Lawson, a registered nurse from Pittsburgh, traveled to Washington in January to serve as a volunteer medic for a weekend of protest activities against president-elect Donald Trump. Lawson ended up spending most of the weekend incarcerated by the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). She and more than 200 other people, including journalists and legal observers, were indiscriminately rounded up by police on inauguration day and thrown into jail. “I went to D.C. to use the skills I’ve learned as a nurse in order to support and care for folks standing up against what I view as a system of violence and oppression that will be made worse under a Trump administration,” Lawson said in an interview. In an unprecedented move, U.S. federal prosecutors turned what would have been a normal legal response to a protest — presenting charges to a court against specific protesters who engage in vandalism or violence — into a broader attack on dissent. They charged Lawson and her fellow arrestees — who have become known as the “J20” resistance — with several felonies that could send them to prison for more than 60 years. Out of the legal scramble, Lawson emerged as part of a group of seven defendants who will be first in line to have their cases heard in D.C. Superior Court. Under the current schedule, her trial will start Wednesday and is expected to last at least two weeks.

Group Investigating Police On Inauguration Day Has History Supporting Police

November 15, 2017 Sarah Lazare, theintercept.com , ,
By Sarah Lazare for The Intercept - A CONSULTANT PAID by the Washington, D.C., City Council to investigate the Metropolitan Police Department’s crackdown on Inauguration Day protesters is coming under scrutiny for what activists and experts say is a bias in favor of police. The Police Foundation, the purportedly independent group conducting the investigation for the city, is poring over charges of police abuses from January 20. The city’s police department faced scrutiny for violence and arrests that targeted anyone in close proximity to an anti-fascist demonstration, part of a thousands-strong “Disrupt J20” protest against Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration. Demonstrators were allegedly confronted with arbitrary mass arrests and sexual assault, according a lawsuit filed against D.C. and the police. The lawsuit said those in and around the protest came under attack from chemical agents, such as pepper spray, as well as rubber bullets and stinger grenades. Following the mass arrests, hundreds of people were charged with conspiracy, property destruction, and assault, and now many face decades in prison. Defense attorneys say the mass prosecution is unprecedented in Washington, D.C. The police’s actions on January 20 quickly provoked concern.

Charges Against Journalists Covering Inauguration Protest

November 15, 2017 Chip Gibbons, www.rightsanddissent.org , , ,
By Chip Gibbons for Defending Rights & Dissent - Defending Rights & Dissent was joined by a number of press freedom groups, including Freedom of the Press Foundation, Free Press, Pen America, and the Nation Institute, in sending a letter to the Department of Justice calling for an end to the prosecutions of Aaron Cantú and Alexei Wood. Both Cantú and Wood are journalists who were covering a protest march on Inauguration Day 2017, in Washington, DC. They face a number of charges, including engaging in a riot, conspiracy to riot, inciting a riot, and property damage. Since some of the charges are felonies, they face potentially decades in prison. Cantú and Wood were arrested and charged for simply doing their jobs as reporters. Their prosecution endangers press freedom in the United State.
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