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Fifth Column

Charges dropped against keffiyeh-clad protester for violating NY county’s mask ban

2024-11-23

[IsraelTimes] District attorney says not possible to prove charges against pro-Palestinian demonstrator arrested outside synagogue ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’

Prosecutors in New York dropped charges Friday against a keffiyeh-wearing, pro-Paleostinian protester who was among the first people arrested under a local face mask ban that’s stirred free speech concerns.

Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly’s office confirmed it moved to dismiss the charges against Xavier Roa during a court hearing on Long Island.

He was leading the protest against a synagogue. ANSWER Coalition, formerly known as International ANSWER, yet another tentacle of the anarcho-communist Black Bloc movement organized a protest against his arrest, strongly suggesting Mr. Roa is a Black Bloc cadre.

"The case was investigated extensively and upon conclusion NCDA determined that the allegations could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt and moved to dismiss the charges," spokesperson Nicole Turso said in a statement.

Roa’s lawyer Geoffrey Stewart hailed the decision as a "big victory" for his client and "for civil liberties," but argued the law itself "should be struck from the books."

"This case shows that the law can, and in all likelihood will be abused by law enforcement because the law is unconstitutionally vague," he said in an email.

Stewart has maintained that Roa acted respectfully and complied with officers as he peacefully exercised his constitutionally protected free speech rights during a protest outside an Orthodox synagogue in September.

The North Bellmore resident was detained under Nassau County’s Mask Transparency Act, which bans people from wearing masks to conceal their identity in public. It includes exemptions for people who wear masks "for health, safety, religious or cultural purposes."

The county’s Republican-controlled Legislature approved the law in August in response to "antisemitic incidents, often perpetrated by those in masks" since the Hamas
Hamas

..a contraction of the Arabic words for "frothing at the mouth",...
onslaught in southern Israel last year that started the war in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
Roa, who faced up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine if convicted of the misdemeanor charge, was the first protester arrested under the ban.

The New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations

... the Moslem Brüderbund's American arm ...
and other groups claimed at the time it was proof that the local law was being used as a "silencing tactic" against Paleostinian supporters.

Nassau County police said Roa had been attempting to conceal his identity as he led others in pro-Paleostinian chants. They also said he told officers he was wearing the scarf in solidarity with Paleostinians and not for exempted medical or religious purposes.

In videos showing some of the arrest, Roa wears the keffiyeh around his neck as he’s led away in handcuffs.

Posted by:trailing wife

#1 Don't Cair.

Posted by: Skidmark 2024-11-23 20:51

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