A San Diego jury found two anti-fascists guilty of conspiracy to riot, in a case that became a bellwether for legal action against the political movement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The two defendants had faced various charges related to rioting and assault during a protest in a beach neighborhood in the aftermath of the tumultuous 2020 election. In that protest, on Jan. 9, 2021, members of the Proud Boys and other supporters of then-President Donald Trump had rallied and clashed with anti-fascists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But only the anti-fascists had faced charges. Prosecutors set out to convince a jury that the assailants were not simply individual participants, but that they had conspired under the banner of Antifa, essentially acting as a criminal gang. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Brian Lightfoot and Jeremy White were both found guilty of conspiracy to riot at the protest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
But the decision was split, as many other charges did not lead to conviction. The jury, which deliberated for more than a week, failed to reach a verdict on most of the most serious assault charges against Lightfoot, found him not guilty of one assault, and found White innocent of the one assault he was accused of committing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the individual defendants, the verdicts represented a lighter possible sentence for Lightfoot, but possible prison time for White, who said he was \u201cheartbroken.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And attorneys for both defendants said the verdicts represent a huge blow to the anti-fascist movement and to protesters in general, at a time when a new wave of protests has sprung up on college campuses across the country in opposition to the war in Gaza. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI think the door is wide open to now hold lawful protesters in violation of conspiracy law,\u201d said Curtis Briggs, who represented White. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Patriot March <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n On January 9, 2021, three days after pro-Trump rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol building, the former president\u2019s supporters in California organized a \u201cpatriot\u2019s march\u201d in the Pacific Beach area of San Diego. Groups organizing the march included the American Guard, Proud Boys, and another local right-wing racist group called Defend East County. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Local community activists and anti-fascists groups organized a counter protest. For several hours the two sides clashed with one another. Police attempted to separate the opposing sides but focused their brutality on the anti-racist protesters. After nearly seven hours of protests and street brawls, the area was eventually cleared. Local government, media, and right-wing activists placed the blame for the incident on the \u201cAntifa Movement.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n On December 6, 2021, after a grand jury hearing, the San Diego District Attorney Summer Stephan announced the indictment of eleven anti-fascist activists on 29 felony counts, relating to the incident in earlier in the year. The indictment stated that 15 to 20 members of Antifa from San Diego and Los Angeles organized and executed acts of violence against participants of the Patriot March rally. The Antifa activists allegedly used rocks, glass, mace, sticks and other weapons to assault at least 16 victims. The indictment stated that a criminal conspiracy began with individuals liking and sharing social media posts that called for a counter-protest against the pro-Trump rally. Others allegedly entered into a conspiracy by showing up to participate in the anti-racist protest and engaging in violent actions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Cannon was one of the indicted and was charged with felony conspiracy, felony assault by means likely to produce great bodily in- jury and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon. The indictment also pointed out that Cannon was out on bail for a prior case for his role in community activism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Political Persecution <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n After the indictment was announced, community organizers vocalized their outrage over the one-sided prosecution. Even though both sides engaged in the clash on January 9, 2021, the District Attorney chose to only prosecute those who were labeled as members of \u201cAntifa\u201d. Numerous individuals, who were victims of unprovoked assaults perpetrated by members of the American Guard and Proud Boys, witnessed the District Attorney turn a blind toward these attacks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The DA also failed to inform both the grand jury and the defense witnesses for the eleven defendants that many of those who were labeled as \u201cvictims\u201d were members of the American Guard and were aggressors during the conflict. While the DA\u2019s office went to great efforts to hunt down the alleged \u201cvictims of Antifa,\u201d they avoided interviews with numerous victims of the right-wing extremists because that would undermine the DA\u2019s agenda. <\/p>\n\n\n\n San Diego District Attorney Summer Stephan\u2019s action should be of no surprise since she previously built her entire election campaign for her position on fearmongering against Antifa and George Soros. In 2018, Stephan used images of black bloc with Antifa flags with captions such as \u201cSan Diego Public Safety is Under Attack\u201d as part of her campaign for election. Her campaign also accused her opponent of being supported by George Soros, the Jewish philanthropist who is often used by the far-right in their coded antisemitic rhetoric While Stephan had no problem villainizing Antifa or George <\/p>\n\n\n\n Soros in order to further her campaign, it also seemed like she had no problems taking money from white supremacist or using her position to protect them from prosecution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n One of those who donated to Stephan\u2019s campaign was San Diego Republican Party leader and self-described local Republican \u201cking-maker,\u201d Tony Krvaric. Weeks before the January 2021 incident, Krvaric tweeted that po- lice should be focused on \u201cAntifa terrorists.\u201d It should be no surprise that Krvaric disliked anti- fascists. In 2020, a video surfaced of a young Krvaric and friends giving white power salutes, drawing swastikas on their bodies, with a photo of Hitler bouncing across the screen. One of Krvaric\u2019s sons, who was a reservist, was investigated by the Marines because of an application to the Patriot Front, another neo-Nazi group. His other son worked for Trump\u2019s Office of Personnel Management, participated in the January 6 insurrection, and had profiles on neo-Nazi websites where he praised Hitler, backed deportation of non-white people, and expressed disgust of the LGBTQ+ population. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This is not Stephan\u2019s only connection to the local white supremacist community. In May 2018, just weeks after the DA launched her conspiracy campaign website, she accepted a campaign contribution from Kristopher Wyrick, the President of the Southern California chapter of the American Guard. Six months prior to the contribution, when Summer Stephan was acting as the interim DA, Wyrick and several other members of the American Guard assaulted several victims in a vicious attack. Despite numerous videos of the attack, the DA chose not to file charges against the white supremacists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This was not an isolated incident. In September 2020, members of the American Guard attacked racial justice protestors, including a man in a wheelchair. In July 2021, Wyrick and several other members of the American Guard attacked pro-Palestinian protesters during a rally, using weapons that included bear spray. Despite media reports documenting the incidents, the DA\u2019s office yet again refused to prosecute. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In total, there are at least five documented incidents where Stephan\u2019s office chose not to prosecute Wyrick and his American Guard for violent assaults. To add insult to injury, many of <\/p>\n\n\n\n those individuals they chose not to prosecute, were the alleged victims in the January 9, 2021, incident and prosecution witnesses. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Last two Antifa defendants <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Of the 11 original defendants, nine cut deals with prosecutors that saw some of them agree to multi-year prison sentences. Two, Los Angeles residents Lightfoot and White, decided to argue their cases before a jury. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Of the two defendants, Lightfoot was facing the most charges. He was accused of spraying pepper spray at Trump supporters and of committing assaults likely to commit great bodily injury. During closing arguments of the trial, prosecutors said he came to San Diego ready to commit violence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe wanted to fight,\u201d said Deputy District Attorney Makenzie Harvey. \u201cThey were here looking to commit violence.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Of the 16 counts he faced; Lightfoot was found guilty of six. The jury could not make a decision and \u201chung\u201d on nine of the charges and found him not guilty of one of the charges of assault. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Both were sentenced to two years in prison.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A San Diego jury found two anti-fascists guilty of conspiracy to riot, in a case that became a bellwether for legal action against the political movement. The two defendants had faced various charges related to rioting and assault during a protest in a beach neighborhood in the aftermath of the tumultuous 2020 election. 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