Supporters of President Trump seen painting over a large Black Lives Matter (BLM) mural in Contra Costa County have been charged with a misdemeanor hate crime charge.
“They didn't like their tax dollars and property being used for a Black Lives Matter mural so they went and tried to paint it over but they were arrested and the district attorney charged them with vandalism and a hate crime,” said Bilal Essayli, a defense and constitutional attorney who is representing the pair.
Nicole Anderson and David Nelson of Martinez, California entered a not guilty plea when they were arraigned on Aug. 4 and are due to return to court on Oct. 13 at which time Essayli said he plans to schedule a jury trial.
Essayli is accusing District Attorney Diana Becton of weaponizing the justice system.
“I don’t think hate laws have ever been used to prosecute what I call ‘political speech,’” Essayli told the Southern California Record. “Just as BLM protesters have a right to protest peacefully and express their views so do people on the other side but here you have a district attorney charging people with a hate crime whom she doesn't agree with.”
While the couple painted over the mural on July 4, a verbal altercation with bystanders was caught on camera and posted on Youtube.
"We're sick of this narrative," explained Nelson to passersby who inquired as to what he and Anderson were doing. "The narrative of police brutality. The narrative of oppression. The narrative of racism. It's a lie. This is racism is what it is. There is no racism. There is no oppression. It's a leftist lie."
"This isn't New York," Anderson chimed in. "This isn't happening in my town. Go get my other can of paint."
The city has since restored the yellow mural in front of the Wakefield Taylor Courthouse, which spelled out Black Lives Matter after Anderson and Nelson covered it with black paint.
“It's ironic because this was supposed to be a temporary mural and the city has said this was one time only so they're not accepting applications for any other types of mural,” Essayli said.
Becton declined to comment but ABC News reported that she said the mural was a peaceful and powerful way to communicate the importance of black lives in Contra Costa County.
Essayli added that the arrest put the city in an interesting bind.
“It indicates to me that you have elected officials who are engaging in political speech using government resources, which is illegal and unconstitutional,” he said. “You're going to be seeing civil cases on that front but the thing with government is you make something a public forum and that street is now being used to express political statements, you cannot then decide which statements you like and don't like. It's again, all or nothing. You can’t pick and choose.”
The BLM movement emerged in late May after George Floyd, a black man, was allegedly asphyxiated to death by the knee of a white police officer in Minneapolis.
Essayli noted that the case against his clients Anderson and Nelson is being reviewed by the Dhillon Law Group for a potential civil lawsuit alleging constitutional violations.