Black Lives Matter (BLM) members can speak openly about their case after a judge ruled against a pre-trial motion filed by Bloomington city prosecutors. Nekima Levy-Pounds, who is among the nearly 40 defendants, informed the MSR last week that the judge, during a May 1 hearing, ruled against the gag order.
“There’s no good reason to prevent people from talking about the case,” said the St. Thomas law professor, who recently was elected Minneapolis NAACP president. She is helping to defend herself as well.
Mica Grimm and Adja Gildersleve are fighting the charges against them. Both women said that the City of Bloomington is leaning on the Mall of America to prosecute the case.
“I don’t see Bloomington [residents] wanting to pursue this case further,” noted Grimm, who said that her next scheduled court date is sometime in October.
“I think the City of Bloomington and the Mall of America are scared of [the] public support we have and [how] favorable media has been toward us,” added Gildersleve.
Levy-Pounds said BLM’s “media savvy” is frustrating the prosecutors. “It’s not our fault that we know how to use Twitter and Facebook and other forms of social media, and that we are creative,” she pointed out.
The assigned judge is still reviewing other pre-trial motions, including whether or not informants can be disclosed at the trial, which is scheduled for later this year, said Levy-Pounds.
Charles Hallman welcomes reader responses to challman@spokesman-recorder.com.