Black Lives Matter Activist Jasmine Richards Is Convicted of ‘Felony Lynching’
Commentator Sonali Kolhatkar discusses the case with professor and Black Lives Matter organizer Anthony Ratcliff. Richards was the first African-American to be tried on the controversial charge, after allegedly attempting to intervene when police were detaining a woman.A jury in Pasadena, Calif., this week convicted Black Lives Matter activist Jasmine Richards of “felony lynching.” Richards, 28, is the first African-American to be tried on the controversial charge, which authorities only recently renamed “attempting to unlawfully remove a suspect from police officers.”
Sonali Kolhatkar discusses the case with Anthony Ratcliff, a Black Lives Matter organizer and professor of Pan-African studies at California State University, Los Angeles, on her program “Rising Up With Sonali.”
The charge stems from Richards’ arrest in August for allegedly interfering in the police detention of a woman near where Richards was marching with other activists. Her supporters say she is being politically persecuted for her activism with the group.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for mid-June. Richards faces a possible one-year sentence and has already been taken into custody.
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