Choi and Pietrangelo Plead Not Guilty

[David Zephyr]

Source: The Advocate.Com

Lt. Dan Choi and Capt. Jim Pietrangelo pleaded not guilty to charges arising from their Thursday civil disobedience action at an arraignment in Washington, D.C., on Friday.

They two were arrested Thursday after chaining themselves to the White House gate in protest of the military's ban on openly gay service members.

Paul Yandura, one of the organizers, told The Advocate that Dan and Jim were released from police custody. Because they pleaded not guilty, their case will go to trial in lieu of paying a $100 fine.

They must return to court for trial April 26.



Read more: http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2010/03/19/Choi_and_Pietrangelo_Plead_Not_Guilty/

[peacebird]

1. where can I donate to their defense fund? Any idea?

[warm regards]

2. I don't know, I suppose they are trying to make a point. But aren't they guilty

of doing what they did?

Why not just pay the fine and then proceed to find a better way to bring attention their line of reasoning?

[qazplm]

3. we are pretty close

it just seemed bad timing to me.

I don't have a problem with civil disobedience but seems to me you give em six months or so, see if we get it overturned and THEN you move to acts like they did.

We've apparently more or less got a freeze of sorts in place right now, so I guess it just seemed not to make sense to bear poke in this instance.

[Downwinder]

4. What were they charged with? There is nowhere near enough information here

to assume guilt.

[kestrel91316]

5. What, they don't teach about the long and storied record of civil disobedience

effecting REAL CHANGE in homeschool???????

[David Zephyr]

7. Unbelievable, huh? At a "progressive" blog, no less.

Obviously, you are as stunned as I am by the responses here.

I guess Dr. King should have never broken "the law" and wound up in jail. Or Alice Paul. Or the Wobblies. Or all the rest. By the logic of the above, they should have found "a better way" or "waited" longer.

In others words, Rosa Parks should have just given up her seat on the bus according to their "logic".

Seriously, these news stories are like flypaper that catch people's prejudices. That's what is really underneath those responses. Not concern for Lt. Choi, but their own un-comfort with who he is and what he is standing up for.

[kestrel91316]

6. SOME PEOPLE don't seem to understand what "civil disobedience" means. Oy.

Or they're just faking cluelessness......

C'mon guys. Seriously.

(not directed at you, DZ!)