Seven Anti-War Protesters Acquitted by Jury
Minneapolis. A six-member Hennepin County jury acquitted seven protesters, members of the Anti-War Committee (AWC), today in Hennepin County District Court. The seven defendants were charged with trespass after they refused to leave the corridor outside the National Guard recruitment office in Stadium Village, Minneapolis on March 27, 2008.
The AWC members were protesting the fifth anniversary of the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq. Attorneys from the National Lawyers Guild - Minnesota Chapter, Carla Magnuson, Ted Dooley, Geneva Finn and Gena Berglund represented the defendants, some of whom also represented themselves pro se. Demonstrators asserted a "claim of right" to be on the property based on international law and the First Amendment right to address government officials. Hennepin County Judge Mark Wernick presided over the trial.