City prosecutor find women they accuse of being "angry" guilty of illegal protesting

 By Steve Otto

Wichita has always been a town which lacks real respect for freedom of speech. It is also a town that has always been under control of the Republican Party. I can’t help remembering that quote by Hunter S. Thompson:

 

"I believe the Republicans have never thought that democracy was anything but a tribal myth."

 

But for what ever reason, Wichita has always been hard on those who test freedom of speech. For example, just about a week ago two women were found guilty of misdemeanor charges of illegal protesting. The protest took place last summer. Gabrielle Griffie and Marissa Gonzales were charged with using the actual streets for their protests. There were actually some motorists who testified against the women who said they were “scared” by the protesters.

I have to wonder how “scared’ a motorist could really be here in this town. Here in Kansas, almost every conservative person carries a gun. Most protesters know this. In fact motorists have not been too “scared” to try and run protesters over. More likely the motorists where conservatives who just don’t like it when people protest against police violence. And they also don’t like the Black Lives Matter organization, which took part in these protests.

According to The Wichita Eagle:

 

" During the trials, prosecutor Maria Schrock described the women as angry and aggressive when they interacted with lawful drivers on Wichita streets. Wheeler argued that his clients were defending themselves against drivers who went through crowds and called protesters names."

It doesn’t take long to see the same old grumblings we have heard since all of these protest began. And the protesting has largely gone one because of unjustified police killings of black people. To this day we still have more and more police killings, usually against un-armed black people.

The women will appeal their convictions.