SLO County district attorney charges Tianna Arata with 13 misdemeanors
The San Luis Obispo District Attorney’s Office has filed more and a dozen misdemeanor charges against local Black Lives Matter activist Tianna Arata.
A complaint obtained by The Tribune shows prosecutors filed 13 misdemeanor counts against Arata, 20, including five counts of false imprisonment, six counts of obstruction of a thoroughfare, one count of unlawful assembly, and one count of disturbing the peace by loud noise.
According to a DA’s Office complaint, a second protester, Elias Bautista, 23, is being charged with one felony count of resisting a peace officer and two misdemeanor counts of resisting, obstructing, or delaying a peace officer.
The charges stem from a July 21 protest in which marchers blocked traffic on Highway 101 for about an hour.
Both are due to be arraigned at a hearing Thursday morning at the SLO County Superior Courthouse at 8:30 a.m.
Arata’s attorney, Patrick Fisher, said Wednesday that he expects his client to appear in court via Zoom conference, which is not uncommon for defendants who are out of custody during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bautista (who goes by the pronoun they/them) told The Tribune that they are required to appear in court. Their attorney could not immediately be reached Wednesday.
Black Lives Matter organizers said Wednesday that more than a thousand people are expected to gather at the courthouse to support Arata and Bautista.
The event will be live-streamed to the public.
District Attorney Dan Dow said in a news release that the filing of the charges “is solidly based on the duty of the District Attorney to hold individuals accountable for their actions when their conduct exceeds the bounds of the law.”
“Ms. (Arata’s) and Mr. Bautista’s conduct in this instance was not peaceful, but instead it violated the law by depriving other individuals in our community of their right to enjoy liberty,” Dow wrote.
A DA’s Office news release said the investigation into the July 21 protest is ongoing and “may result in additional charges against other individuals.”
How to watch Thursday’s court hearing
On Wednesday, the court released instructions for viewing the hearing, as well as access to the courthouse, which, aside from the parties involved, will be limited to 120 people on a first-come, first-served basis.
Court CEO Michael Powell explained that few people will be able to sit inside the courtroom due to COVID-19 restrictions, and that because of the virtual nature of the hearing, audience members will only be able to view the back of a monitor facing the judge.
Access to the courthouse for those not on the court’s calendar will be limited to 120 people based on available public seating in the lobby and hallways, Powell said, and only about 15 people will be able to watch a live-stream inside the Jury Services building next to the lobby.
However, free WiFi is available in and around the building, and attendees may watch the stream on their mobile devices, Powell said.
All attendees are expected to follow mask and social distancing measures inside the courthouse. No signs or placards will be permitted inside.
What happened at July 21 protest
For several weeks, Arata and Bautista have been awaiting a filing decision on a range of charges stemming from the July 21 event, which included marchers blocking Highway 101 and multiple altercations with drivers. The two were arrested shortly after the protest ended.
The Police Department recommended a total of eight charges against Arata: four felony counts of false imprisonment; one felony count of conspiracy; and three misdemeanor counts, including resisting or obstructing a peace officer, participating in a riot and unlawful assembly.
The 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.
On Tuesday afternoon, a handful of local Black Lives Matter organizers attempted to deliver boxes of pages printed from a Change.org petition calling on the District Attorney’s Office to drop the charges against Arata. That petition — which is in no way legally binding — had attracted more than 545,000 signatures from across the world as of Wednesday.
The DA’s Office would not accept the signatures, however, saying it would be unethical to make a filing decision based on public sentiment, and that they were under no legal requirement to accept the petition.
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Arata was charged with a felony, based on court records posted online Wednesday afternoon. This is a developing story and will be updated.
This story was originally published September 2, 2020 at 4:21 PM.
