Cecily McMillan, a graduate student and Occupy Wall Street activist, faces up to seven years in jail for assaulting a New York police officer in 2012. A jury found her guilty today, and a sentencing hearing is set for May 19.
According to the Guardian:
McMillan denied the charge. She claimed that she swung her arm back instinctively only after having one of her breasts grabbed from behind while she was walking out of the park. Her lawyers showed photographs of bruising to her chest to support this. They said McMillan did not know that [Officer Grantley] Bovell was a police officer, and did not intend to hurt him.
…
Testifying, McMillan said that she had “no memory” of the moment her elbow struck Bovell. “I’m really sorry that officer got hurt,” she said. She has said that she suffered a seizure or anxiety attack after being arrested and subsequently received treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder.
…
Her lawyers stressed throughout the trial that she was a moderate left-wing political activist who had urged her fellow Occupy members to pursue a path of non-violent engagement with the state.
Supporters of McMillan are planning to meet in New York’s Zuccotti Park Monday afternoon to protest the verdict.
This could have been said before, but: there is no justice in America. Our government is broken and deserves NO respect. #Justice4Cecily
— Anonymous (@YourAnonNews) May 5, 2014
Welcome to America, where if you are sexually assaulted by a police officer, you can be sent to prison for it. #Justice4Cecily
— Anonymous (@YourAnonNews) May 5, 2014
#Justice4Cecily guilty verdict has re-kindled U.S. #Occupy Movement #Anonymous The Hive is Buzzin!
— Chris Farrell (@Optimistic1967) May 5, 2014
Recommended
https://twitter.com/GMalandrucco/status/463423574376996864
Sickening: Cecily McMillan found guilty of being brutalized by cops at Zuccotti Park http://t.co/eXP37VojGJ
— Tom Philpott (@tomphilpott) May 5, 2014
#CecilyMcMillan supporters will gather at 6pm in #ZuccottiPark to make handprints like the 1 #mynypd left on her breast #justice4Cecily #ows
— In Our Hearts (@IOHNYC) May 5, 2014
https://twitter.com/ronan_aodhan/status/463427555295776769
https://twitter.com/yourscholar/status/463430622619267072
I hate to go on a tweet fit, but things like this put me in the "we've accepted living in a police state" frame of mind. #Justice4Cecily
— mitch f anderson (@MitchFAnderson) May 5, 2014
https://twitter.com/sarahrlnrd/status/463409986065145856
This is outrageous. Cecily McMillan will be incarcerated for being sexually assaulted and beaten by police while protesting. #Justice4Cecily
— Rania Khalek (@RaniaKhalek) May 5, 2014
https://twitter.com/caulkthewagon/status/463394192321179648
Don't charge women with crimes when they fight back against someone (in plain clothes) who assaults them. #justice4Cecily
— Anonymous (@AnonyOps) May 5, 2014
https://twitter.com/LouLasher/status/463406567518269440
In Zuccotti Park now, where Cecily McMillan's supporters have called for a 6pm rally following her conviction, maybe 60 people gathered.
— Nick Pinto (@macfathom) May 5, 2014
Cecily McMillan found guilty by a jury. People are gathering in Zuccotti park at 6pm to protest the verdict. #Justice4Cecily
— Miki Takes Photos (@MikiTakesPhotos) May 5, 2014
#USA: Too many of great people, visionaries, those who change things, go to jail. Very few corporate criminals go to jail. #Justice4Cecily
— Libor Von Schönau (@LiborVS) May 5, 2014
Given what I said earlier about May 4 anniversaries, still amazed people like Cecily McMillan weren't just shot in street. #Justice4Cecily
— Kevin J. Maroney (@womzilla) May 5, 2014
See you at Zuccotti at 6 #JusticeForCecily. Cec and i never agreed, but fuck the courts and police more!
— Natasha Lennard (@natashalennard) May 5, 2014
The world is screaming out for #Justice4Cecily. Will @NYCMayorsOffice & @ManhattanDA listen? http://t.co/rwQrhwhuMn pic.twitter.com/mapA9EeZok
— #GeneralStrike2020 will #OccupyWallStreet (@OccupyWallStNYC) May 5, 2014
From another perspective:
https://twitter.com/frumpy_fuu/status/463442146532417536