Columbus Day protest case goes to jury

The Rocky:

Jurors deciding the fate of three people accused of blocking last fall's Columbus Day Parade have begun deliberating.

Shameless as ever, David Lane compared the protesters to--guess who:

In closing arguments this morning, defense attorney David Lane invoked the memory of Martin Luther King Jr., saying that much like the civil rights activist, the protesters were standing up for what they believed — that the Oct. 6 parade honored a person responsible for starting a genocide against American Indians.

Glenn Morris as MLK. My shrink is going to be so mad when she sees I've started self-mutilating again.

Assistant City Attorney Melissa Drazen-Smith argued that no matter how passionate a protestor might feel, he or she must respect other people and act lawfully.

Well, duh.

Those on trial are University of Colorado political science professor Glenn Morris, who has been in several of the annual Columbus Day protests; the Rev. Julie Todd, a Methodist minister who is a doctoral candidate at the Iliff School of Theology, and Koreena Montoya of Denver.

On Friday, Todd and Montoya told the Denver County jury that they were sitting, waiting for buses at Stout and 15th streets when police used strong-armed tactics to detain them.

Waiting for buses. Rosa, is that you?

This will be a nice little tuneup for David Lane before he tries Ward Churchill's lawsuit later this year. Jury selection, witnesses,
"experts". . .