The DC Jobs With Justice Executive Committee has made the following resolution and is proud to share it with you:
DC Jobs With Justice Resolution in Support of Inauguration Protesters
WHEREAS, DC Jobs With Justice works for justice in Washington, DC;
WHEREAS, the right to free speech and free expression of ideas is enshrined in the first amendment of the Constitution;
WHEREAS, the labor movement was formed by workers bravely exercising their constitutionally protected right to free speech;
WHEREAS, increased policing, militarization of local police departments, and excessive use of force disproportionately impacts African American communities, other communities of color, immigrant communities, trans communities and persons who are homeless;
WHEREAS, DC Jobs With Justice and our members at times participate in protests and other exercises of their right to free speech on the streets of Washington, DC;
WHEREAS, on January 20, 2017, when tens of thousands of citizens gathered in Washington, DC to exercise their first amendment right to protest the inauguration of President Trump, a crowd of more than 200 individuals – including journalists, medics, and bystanders – were rounded up without warning and mass arrested without individuated probable cause;
WHEREAS, 190 of those arrested are now facing outrageously inappropriate and draconian multiple felony charges and up to 61 years of prison time for exercising their first amendment rights, and such reprisals constitute a dangerous chilling effect on the right to speak out and all forms of free expression;
THEREFORE, LET IT BE RESOLVED, that DC Jobs With Justice wholeheartedly condemns the arbitrary, overbroad detention and arrest of hundreds of citizens exercising their right to free speech while protesting the Presidential Inauguration;
LET IT FURTHER BE RESOLVED, that DC Jobs With Justice stands in solidarity with all protesters who face excessive and undue criminal charges, and calls for the dismissal and/or reduction of all charges brought against them by federal prosecutors.