Judge dismisses rioting charges against six Trump inauguration protesters

A D.C. Superior Court judge on Wednesday dismissed rioting charges against six protesters who were arrested during the Inauguration Day protests in Washington earlier this year, according to The Washington Post.

Inciting a riot was one of the most serious charges the six faced, although they still face charges of engaging in a riot and destruction of property. Judge Lynn Leibovitz said that none of the individuals’ actions amounted to incitement.

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“None of them engaged in conduct that amounted to urging other persons to destroy property,” Leibovitz said, according to the Post.

Inciting a riot is a felony, and the charge comes with a maximum penalty of up to 10 years in prison and fine of up to $25,000.

The move comes months after Leibovitz declined to dismiss all criminal charges against more than 200 people charged as a result of the Inauguration Day riots, which caused over $100,000 in property damage in D.C.

A lawyer for Alexei Wood, one of the six defendants who saw a charge dropped on Tuesday, said that there is still a “long way to go” to getting the other charges dismissed.

“We still have a long way to go with the other charges,” attorney Brett E. Cohen told the Post.

In June, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced it would sue the D.C. police department over its law enforcement tactics during the protests.

“The coordinated MPD response is part of a custom of the District of Columbia of responding with overwhelming and unlawful force to non-violent demonstrators at largely peaceful demonstrations where some law-breaking is occurring,” the ACLU’s lawsuit reads.