So here's something I don't understand. How do you "fail to obey a lawful order" when you're handcuffed to a fence and can't physically unlock them yourself? The order is absurd at that point. It's like telling someone who's unconscious to leave, then citing him for not leaving.
More from Metro Weekly:
First, they suggested that by bringing federal charges against Choi, the government was treating him differently from other people who have protested in front of the White House in previous years. Feldman referred to the testimony of one witness, a 22-year veteran of the Park police, who said Choi’s case was the first time he had been to federal court, rather than D.C. Superior Court, to testify against a protestor he had arrested.
“This is the ‘Shuttlesworth’ of the 21st century,” Feldman told a small group that had gathered for the news conference, referring to the 1969 Supreme Court case Shuttlesworth v. Birmingham. In that case, an African-American minister was arrested for leading a civil rights march through Birmingham, Ala., because he had not obtained the proper permit. The Alabama Supreme Court had initially interpreted Birmingham city statutes and ruled that the arrest was legitimate because the march was a traffic obstruction, a decision that was overturned unanimously by the U.S. Supreme Court.It's not entirely clear why the White House doesn't drop the charges. This looks vindictive. And it's one more thing to strain tensions, with a year to go to the next election, and lots of people increasingly disillusioned with this President. The fact that the White House doesn't make this go away under those circumstances, makes the prosecution all the more vindictive seeming.
