SLO police ask DA to file 8 charges against protest leader Tianna Arata, including 5 felonies
Update to this story >> >> How SLO protest leader Tianna Arrata went from outsider to the middle of history
The San Luis Obispo Police Department wants county prosecutors to charge the leader of a local protest with five felonies and three misdemeanors related to her July 21 arrest after marchers blocked traffic on Highway 101.
Chief deputy district attorney Jerret Gran said Thursday that the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office received reports from the police department late Wednesday recommending charges against Tianna Arata and another protester, Elias Bautista, who was also arrested after the event had peacefully dispersed.
Gran said that the police department is recommending a total of eight charges against Arata: four felony counts of false imprisonment; one felony count of conspiracy; one count of resisting or obstructing a peace officer, a misdemeanor; one count of inciting a riot, a misdemeanor; and one misdemeanor count of unlawful assembly.
The police department also recommended two felony counts of resisting or obstructing a peace officer with force, and a count of taking of another person from custody by means of a riot for Bautista.
It was not immediately clear what maximum penalties Arata, 20, and Bautista, 22, could face should they be convicted of all charges.
Both have an arraignment date scheduled for Sept. 3.
Attorney, activists respond to potential charges
Arata’s attorney, Patrick Fisher, said Thursday afternoon that he’s been pleased with the District Attorney’s Office’s official statements on the case so far.
“I’m glad that Dan Dow’s publicly stated that his office is going to take a careful look at all of the information before filing charges, and that he’s asked for patience,” Fisher said. “We’ve had an investigator hard at work, and what’s he’s gathered is something that (Dow’s) office would want to consider before making a filing decision.”
Fisher declined to reveal what the private investigator has found, but said he plans to submit his report to the District Attorney’s Office late next week.
“There very rarely is one side to the story,” Fisher said.
In response to questions about the arrests, San Luis Obispo police Chief Deanna Cantrell said the department’s accusations against Arata are based on probable cause.
R.A.C.E. Matters SLO County, a local anti-racism organization, released a statement Thursday on the group’s Facebook page urging the DA’s Office not to pursue police recommendations, saying the “trumped-up charges are meant to target and intimidate the community into silence.”
“The escalation of charges against youth protester Tianna Arata is incredibly disappointing,” the statement said. “This is a clear singling out of one young leader among many.”
“Young people in our community have been putting in the work to learn and grow in their activism,” the statement continued. “And this movement and moment demand that we all learn and grow in our own ways. This decision by the San Luis Obispo Police Department leaves us wondering about how their actions reflect their expressed commitments to ‘affecting positive change’ and ‘cultivating a culturally inclusive environment.’”
What’s next for case against protest leader?
Prosecutors will now have to decide whether each charge is merited, and if so, whether they feel they can prove each charge beyond a reasonable doubt to a jury.
The recommended charges were announced a day after roughly 350 people marched peacefully across downtown San Luis Obispo demanding officials drop the case against Arata.
District Attorney Dan Dow previously issued a message to the public asking for patience as his office was at the time awaiting the San Luis Obispo County Police Department’s reports, which the office will now review.
A spokesman said that because both Arata and Bautista are out of custody, prosecutors have time to conduct their own investigation and have the option to file charges even after the Sept. 3 arraignment date if needed.
Prosecutors also have the option of filing no charges in either case.
A GoFundMe campaign has raised more than $22,500 for Arata’s legal costs. Only $10,000 of that will cover legal fees and the rest will go to bail funds for other social justice activists, according to the campaign.
Fisher, who is representing Arata pro bono, clarified Thursday that some funds donated to the campaign have been spent on private investigator fees. He said that any donated funds not used in her defense will be donated to a charity of Arata and her family’s choosing.
“Tianna is so fortunate to have supporters that have donated to that GoFundMe campaign because what we’re going up against, just as in any criminal case, we have a law enforcement agency that has resources that virtually no defendant can compete against,” Fisher said. “Tianna deserves to have this case thoroughly investigated at such an early stage.”
This article has been updated to include Patrick Fisher’s comments.
This story was originally published August 6, 2020 at 9:50 AM.
