Rivers of Blood Trial Opening Statement
DC Superior Court January 17th, 2007
Jordan Manuel

My name is Jordan Manuel, a senior at Catholic University , and on September 20th, 2007 I along with 32 others were arrested in the U.S. Capitol while resisting the unlawful war in Iraq. We believe that it is imperative for us to stand against this war and make our voices heard in the halls of power. On September 20 th , that is exactly what we were doing. We were not disturbing the peace or being disorderly, but exercising our First Amendment right to speak out against war and occupation.

On September 20th, 2007, we walked into the Capitol Building around 10:30am. We wandered around the inside of the building for awhile until we decided to proceed to the Rotunda. We were blocked from entering the Rotunda at around 11:00 am, since we were not with a tour group, therefore we decided to conduct our action in the Crypt at 11:15 am, where we had noticed many tourists gathered. We gathered in a circle in the right hand corner of the room, out of the way of any doors or exits. Revealing red paint stained shirts and photos of dead Iraqis and U.S. soldiers, we began to make statements against the war and performed a vigil in remembrance of those who have died. While doing this, we noticed several members of the Capitol Police standing in the room, but made no move to arrest us or tell us that we could not perform our action. One by one we fell to the ground to symbolize our solidarity with the dead. After everyone was laying on the ground, it was then that we received warnings from members of the Capitol Police to disperse or be arrested. After five minutes, the officers started to arrest members of our group.

The evidence will show that we are completely innocent of the charges against us and that the prosecution's case does not meet the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. According to DC Code 22-1321, the charge of Disorderly Conduct can be asserted if the defendants commit any or all of the following actions: 1) acts in a manner that annoys, interferes, disturb, obstruct or be offensive to others 2) congregates on a public street and refuses to move on when ordered by the police 3) shouts or makes a noise either outside or inside a building during the nighttime to the annoyance or disturbance of any considerable number of persons 4) interferes with any person in any place by jostling against such person or unnecessarily crowding such person or by placing a hand in the proximity of such person's pocketbook or handbag 5) Causes a disturbance in any streetcar, railroad car, omnibus or other public conveyance by running through it, climbing through windows, or upon the seats.

Your Honor, the evidence will show that we are innocent of these charges as we have not violated any of the aforementioned points. Regarding the first point, acting in a manner that disturbs, annoys, etc. We did not act in the manner described in that statement. As we performed our action, there were several groups of students, teachers and tourists who watched us with interest. At this time I would like to mention the tourist standard, which was established in Wheelock v United States . It stated that “As to the general prohibition against demonstrating, the seminal case in this area explains why appellants' conduct cannot constitute the basis for penalizing the exercise of their constitutional rights unless it interfered with the rights of others to a greater degree than tourists do.” There was some applause from the onlookers but no one shouted at us or made visible signs that they were offended by our action. To prosecute us on that charge would necessitate the prosecution to bring forth witnesses testifying that they were indeed annoyed or otherwise disturbed. .

The second point, is that we were not on a public street. We were inside the Capitol building, in a public area with many other people and were simply expressing our First Amendment right to freedom of speech. There were no markers or signs designating the area off limits. There were also no signs stating that the area in which we in was not available for public expressions of opinion. We felt that we were acting in accordance with the law. The third point, is that we did not make noise or shout inside the Capitol during the nighttime, which the clause clearly states. We were there during normal business hours when a considerable amount of tourists and other visitors were also looking around the building. There were no signs prohibiting talking or making noise, except for the House and Senate galleries, which we observed. Also, there is no way to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that we annoyed or disturbed anyone in the area where we were protesting. That would require a degree of evidence that the prosecution cannot provide.

Your Honor, the final two clauses of the charge are completely invalid in our case. No one in our group ever came into physical contact with anyone around us or made any move that could be construed as jostling or crowding. In fact, I believe we made a concerted effort to on the one hand, be visible and able to be heard and on the other hand to be out of the way and not to block any doors or exits. Also, since we conducted our action inside a building and not on a mode of public transportation as stated in the last clause, that part is not applicable to our case either.

We will show that we did not violate any of the aforementioned clauses and therefore are innocent of the charge of disorderly conduct. We went to the Capitol to show our noncompliance with the policy of war and occupation that is being carried out in Iraq . We feel that our actions were and are justified because of the illegality of the actions of this Administration. We were following the example of Jesus, who taught us to follow the tenant of “turning the other cheek” and to love our neighbors as ourselves. Our action was completely nonviolent and at no point did we ever endanger the people around us or the officers.

In commencing this action, we felt that we had to do something to speak out against this war. We have all written letters to Congress, attended hearings, signed petitions, attended rallies and lobbied our representatives. We have done everything in our power to make our voice heard against this illegal and immoral war. Our feeling is that if we do nothing to work for an end to this war, then we ourselves are complicit in this abomination. Simply put, we had no choice but to act as we did, in full accordance with the law.