Victory for Anti-Racist Chelsea Youth!
Anti Racist Chelsea Youth, ARCY, organized last summer after the murder of George Floyd. Chelsea is a town with a predominantly white (96%) population, about 15 minutes west of Ann Arbor.
Featured photo with this post was taken by Tressie Davis..
The youth led many marches through the streets of the city, attended by supportive adult community members. ARCY asked the community to examine and change many of the policies that lead to the racial disparities within the community and refused to take no for an answer. Their actions started much needed discussion within the community.
Racist counter-protesters began to harass them, but they were not deterred. Supporters asked NLG Legal Observers to be present, and our hotline was prepared to connect anyone arrested or ticketed with legal support.
Our NLG Chapter helped organize legal support for anti-racist/Black Lives Matter protesters in Chelsea.
The Chelsea Police used an intimidating amount of surveillance to video record several marches and rallies. The City later mailed tickets charging protesters with civil infraction violations, including Impeding Traffic. (Civil Infractions are non-criminal violations that carry penalties of a fine, but not jail time). One of the protesters, High School student Mya King, who is Native American, had been assaulted by a racist counter-protester. She was ticketed for impeding traffic, and nothing was done about the racist who assaulted her.
ARCY protesters contacted the NLG hotline for legal assistance. The NLG contacted John Shea, a criminal defense attorney in the area who is active with the ACLU, and he generously agreed to organize the defense of the protesters. John Shea assembled an aggressive team of progressive lawyers, including NLG and ACLU members, and professors and law students from the University of Michigan Law School Civil Rights Litigation Initiative, led by NLG and ACLU member Mike Steinberg. The legal team filed this successful motion to dismiss the tickets on First Amendment grounds.
ARCY protesters were able to persuade the Chelsea City Council to unanimously pass a resolution recommending that the Police Department drop all of the charges, but the Police Chief was recalcitrant.
The motion to dismiss was heard by District Court Judge Anna Frushour on Monday, Feb. 22, 2021. Judge Frushour issued a ruling dismissing all of the charges -- 47 tickets issued to 27 people, including seven minor high school students. The Detroit Free Press published a major article about this victory.
Mallery Bee is a member of Anti-Racist Chelsea Youth (ARCY) who organized and participated in Black Lives Matter protests in Chelsea during the summer of 2020. Mallery is one of the many BLM protesters cited for marching in the streets and blocking traffic, although according to Chelsea laws, traffic is allowed to be blocked for "charitable purposes." Mallery noted that every member of ARCY is incredibly grateful for the support from Legal Observers - the protests were often harassed by police and counter-protesters - and for the amazing pro bono legal support and representation.
ARCY’s organizing led to a great degree of discomfort and backlash in Chelsea, important discomfort that is still being felt today. ARCY’s dedicated work has resurrected a sleeping social justice non-profit in the community, changed zoning ordinances, created community listening sessions and explorations of transformative justice, opened community members’ eyes to the abolitionist movement, forced an audit of the Chelsea Police Department, and impacted First Amendment law and the right to protest in Michigan.
Judge tosses out 'unconstitutional' Chelsea protester tickets (photos included)
Police surveilled and ticketed protesters in Mich. town, sparking First Amendment debate (36 Photos attached to this article).
Chelsea City Council recommends police drop charges against protesters
Chelsea police chief won't drop charges against protesters, legal battle continues
