D.C. ATTORNEY GENERAL USES NEW TRUMPED-UP CHARGES TO HARASS REV. LENNOX YEARWOOD, PRES. OF HIP HOP CAUCUS

2 Apr 2008 // Washington, DC - The District of Columbia Attorney General is harassing Rev. Lennox Yearwood, president of the Hip Hop Caucus, by once again charging him with disorderly conduct without evidence.

This latest charge is based on Rev. Yearwood’s participation in a protest against global warming and the war on October 22, 2007. Although others were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct at time of the protest -- charges for which they were acquitted at trial -- Rev. Yearwood was not. Rather, nearly five months after the event, in clear retaliation against Rev. Yearwood for standing up for his First Amendment rights, the Attorney General has decided to charge Rev. Yearwood for the minor crimes of disorderly conduct and unlawful assembly. A videotape of Rev. Yearwood at the protest can be viewed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFTRKUfqZc4.

Previously, Rev. Yearwood had been charged with assault on a police officer and disorderly conduct when he attempted to attend a September 11, 2007 House hearing during which General David Petraeus was scheduled to testify about the Iraq war. While Rev. Yearwood’s attorney, Melanie Sloan of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, was able to persuade the U.S. Attorney’s office to quickly dismiss the assault charge, the Attorney General’s office insisted on proceeding with the disorderly conduct charge. Only on the day of trial, February 25, 2008, when it was clear that Rev. Yearwood was prepared to put on a full defense, did the Attorney General’s office agree to dismiss the charges.

At the same time the Assistant Attorney General conceded that it had no case against Rev. Yearwood for his conduct on September 11th, in retaliation, the Assistant announced the government’s intention to bring new charges against Rev. Yearwood stemming from his participation in the October 22nd protest.

Rev. Yearwood plans to fight these trumped up new charges and demonstrate that all Americans have the right to protest against the government. Rev. Yearwood stated, "It is exactly because of these attempts to scare, harass and silence voices of dissent, that I will continue to speak up for justice for the one million dead Iraqis, the 4 million displaced Iraqis, and the over 4,000 American troops who have been killed in Iraq. We will not live in fear, but we will speak truth to power and have the freedom to do so. We must continue to speak out against these disastrous policies."

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Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is a non-profit legal watchdog group dedicated to holding public officials accountable for their actions.

For more information, please visit www.citizensforethics.org or contact Naomi Seligman Steiner at 202.408.5565/nseligman@citizensforethics.org.

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