STATE DISMISSES CHANGES AGAINST TWO "FOOD COURT 6" DEFENDANTS

News Release


July 10, 2012

STATE DISMISSES CHANGES AGAINST TWO "FOOD COURT 6" DEFENDANTS

Two members of an Occupy Raleigh group arrested in November at a Black
Friday teach-in at the Crabtree Valley Mall had their charges
dismissed today. Roger Ehrilch and Patrick O'Neill and four others
were arrested and charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct
during a staged event in the mall's food court. All six were released
on bond. Four of the six (Derek Cronmiller, Charles Hancock, Jen
Schradie, Emily Galvin) agreed to plea deals, performed 25 hours of
community service and had their charges dismissed. Ehrilch and O'Neill
requested a trial in Wake County District Court. Late Tuesday
afternoon, following the pair's third court appearance, the district
attorney dismissed the charges.

The group was represented by Durham civil rights lawyer Scott Holmes.
"When the state and city shut us down at the historic public square at
the Capitol it made sense to go to the modern corporatized version—the
mall food court," Ehrilch said. "I think the main message of Occupy
has been that our democracy has been overrun by the rampant power of
corporations. Our mug shots were published in The News & Observer
along with the mall's claim that we made, '...utterances, intended and
plainly likely to provoke immediate violent retaliation...' That is
patently false."







"Several states recognize rights of public expression in places like



malls that are open to the public, even if they are privately owned,"



Ehrilch continued. "I've had to miss two public performances by my



daughter and her schoolmates at that same food court because mall



authorities also banned us from the mall for life. I think they just



wanted to repress our speech. I wish the court had allowed me a chance



to publicly defend our rights. A mall police officer said: “This is



private property, you have no rights.” I would like to have been given



the opportunity to prove him wrong."







Said O'Neill: "The dismissal essentially confirms that we were



arrested under false pretenses by overzealous police. It was all a



great inconvenience."







Ehrilch is a father of four from Cary. O'Neill is a father of eight



from Garner.







For more info contact:



Patrick O'Neill,



Garner Catholic Worker House,



124 Perdue St., Garner, NC 27529



ph: 919 779 1912



e-mail pmtoneill(at)aol.com