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Occupy Oakland Activist May Face Three Strikes
Rachel Swan Thu, Jan 5, 2012 at 3:18 PM
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The threat of life imprisonment looms for Occupy Oakland activist Marcel Johnson - better known by his alias, Khali - after a third-strike arrest during the demonstration. Having spent about 15 years incarcerated already, 38 year-old Khali said he was trying to turn his life around by distributing food to the needy at the Occupy Oakland encampment, where he was a frequent, vocal, sometimes endearing presence. On December 16 he was arrested outside City Hall for violating anti-encroachment laws namely, for a dispute about a blanket which normally wouldn't have warranted more than a few hours jail time. Since Khali was in fact violating his probation terms for a different case in Sacramento, he was taken to Santa Rita and made to serve some jail time in lieu of going to trial, his attorney Dan Siegel explained. There, Khali was held in solitary confinement and not given his psychiatric medications, which might explain why he got into an altercation with a peace officer the exact circumstances of which are still widely disputed. Now, Khali faces a felony assault charge in place of his original misdemeanor. As of Friday, December 23, Khali's bail was set at $580,000, according his attorney, Dan Siegel.
"So he's basically arrested for littering, and a week later he's facing felony charges," Siegel said, in an interview on December 23. Siegel isn't representing Khali in the assault case, but he helped persuade a judge to order a medical evaluation of Khali, in the hope that it will explain the altercation. Members of the "Free Khali Committee" at Occupy Oakland claimed that Khali received no evaluation or medication for ten days after his arrest, and that he showed evidence of physical abuse on December 22, when he appeared in court for arraignment on the original misdemeanor (it's now been dwarfed by the assault case). Khali's next court date is January 9th, 9 a.m., at the California Courthouse in Pleasanton. He now faces a potential third strike, and insurmountable bail. And if the Senior Deputy District Attorney Eileen McAndrew doesn't drop the assault charge, the future looks grim, Siegel said: "Khali is homeless. He has no money. He has no anything."
http://www.eastbayexpress.com/92510/archives/2012/01/05/occupy-oakland-activist-may-face-three-strikes
glowing
(12,233 posts)Khali's story of mental health needs coupled with this country's lack of adequate health care access and inability to help those who actually need help, is one of the very reasons for Occupy. The only people who enjoy protected govt socialism are the very one's who need it the least.
We can only hope for human compassion from the DA and/ or a compassionate, merciful judge who recognizes that a minor arrest was compounded into larger problems because those at the top 1% are scared of the 99% and the Power that The People could decide to take into their own hands... so they send direct their orders at their paid for politicians to direct their overly militarized police into creating chaos.
Disgusting... Please, please, please let this be the year we awaken enough to begin to bring humanity, peace, and justice to this sick world that has been harmed for too long by a handful of psychopaths.
BlueToTheBone
(3,747 posts)in withdrawal. 10 days without any help must have been agony for Khali.