Tianna Arata appears on ABC News; attorney says charges aim to ‘discourage protests’
San Luis Obispo activist Tianna Arata spoke with ABC News Prime host Byron Pitts on Wednesday about the criminal case against her, saying “there’s a narrative being pushed” about an event that was actually “joyous” and “peaceful.”
Arata was accompanied by Lee Merritt, a civil rights attorney based in Philadelphia and Dallas who is working with trial attorneys Curtis Briggs, from San Francisco, and Patrick Fisher, from San Luis Obispo, on her case.
Merritt also represents the family of Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man who was fatally shot while jogging in a South Georgia neighborhood in February, and is co-counsel for the families of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, two Black people killed by police in May and March, respectively.
When asked how the protest that Arata helped organize went on July 21, Arata responded that it “was actually incredibly peaceful and super filled with joy.”
“There is a narrative being pushed, but that’s not the accuracy of what actually happened that day,” she added.
At the protest, Arata and hundreds of other demonstrators entered Highway 101 and blocked traffic for nearly an hour. The march was also marked by multiple altercations between protesters and drivers.
At the conclusion, Arata was arrested by SLO police, who recently recommended the District Attorney’s Office charge her with eight criminal counts, including five felonies.
Tianna Arata’s attorney on possible charges
Merritt said Arata should not face criminal prosecution for her role in the demonstration.
“Her involvement in the protest was from a college student perspective, a concerned citizen leading a group of young people to exercise their First Amendment right to speak out about injustice in the country,” he said. “She was not involved in any criminal activity.”
In the interview, Merritt said the recommended charges, which were sent to the San Luis Obispo District Attorney’s Office on Aug. 5 for consideration, “was a move on behalf of law enforcement, designed to discourage protests in that community.”
At a diversity forum Wednesday night in San Luis Obispo, Police Chief Deanna Cantrell said that she likes Arata and that the 20-year-old has great potential as a leader, but that she and other organizers received “a little not-sound advice maybe from some of their mentors.”
She continued: “Do I want her to have criminal convictions and a record that’s going to impact her life later? No. What I do want is I want her to realize that she cannot engage in that kind of behavior. And I’m sure there’s a disagreement — some people think that there was nothing wrong with any of the behavior. I disagree with that. This is why she was charged with the crimes that she was charged with. And so there’s got to be a level of accountability.”
In the ABC interview, Arata said, “Every single protest we’ve had, that I’ve been a part of in San Luis Obispo, has been peaceful. They’ve been completely joyous.”
She said has urged participants to be calm and ignore counter-protesters and agitators.
“With the Police Department, especially after my arrest, I don’t feel safe. But also, I have a background where I’ve seen police mistreat my closest family since the age of, like, since grade school,” Arata added. “So, there’s always been a distrust not only with me but also with marginalized communities and the police.”
Lee Merritt discusses Instagram post
Later in the interview, Pitts brought up a recent Instagram post by Merritt where he wrote to San Luis Obispo District Attorney Dan Dow: “You have a very small window of time to drop these charges before your county, city and home are bombarded by activist (sic) from all over the country. Find out if this is an idle threat if you want to.”
Pitts asked Merritt if his message put the district attorney at risk.
“I think that the bad actors have already gone to work criminalizing Tianna,” Merritt responded. “Tianna is the voice that we need for this moment ... the voice that that community needs. It needs to be heard, it needs to be respected.”
Merritt said that his message to the district attorney was clear: “Our community will stand and support Black women and we will stand to support protesters and we will show up in that region of the country and demand justice.”
Pitts asked Merritt if there is a need to ease up on the rhetoric, to which Merritt responded that it is not rhetoric, but instead what Arata is “fighting for is life and death.”
“Unlike any other country on Earth, we kill more of our citizens, incarcerate more of our citizens,” Merritt said. “The reason you’re seeing protests in all 50 states is because people are finally standing up and demanding equal protection of the law and equality when it comes to policing and public safety.”
Arata thankful for support
Pitts finished the interview by asking Arata how she felt about the outpouring of support she has received on social media and through a change.org petition and GoFundMe campaign. The petition has garnered well over 350,000 signatures as of Thursday morning. The GoFundMe campaign has raised over $52,000 for Arata’s legal fees and for bail funds for other protesters if needed, according to the campaign.
“It’s incredibly overwhelming to me. I’m super excited to be receiving all this support,” Arata said. “I want to channel it not only to help my case in this instance of injustice against me but also to use that to be able to amplify other people’s stories who maybe don’t have the same platform that I’m being given at this time.”
Arata is currently waiting for the District Attorney’s Office to decide whether to charge her with the eight crimes — including five felonies and three misdemeanors — that the police have recommended. Her arraignment is set for Sept. 3.
