Alabama judge upholds anti-riot law attorney says is ‘born out of a racist backlash’
Updated May 14, 2021;
Posted May 14, 2021
Mobile police officers wearing gas masks are seen through the shattered window of a police vehicle during a standoff on an I-10 on-ramp in downtown Mobile on Sunday, May 31, 2020.Lawrence Specker | LSpecker@AL.com
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An Alabama federal judge has ruled that a controversial law used to prosecute protesters across the country over the past year is constitutional.
On Thursday, Judge Terry Moorer of U.S. District Court in Mobile issued an order rejecting claims by defense attorneys for Tia Pugh that the federal anti-riot law is racially biased. Pugh is charged with one count of violating the law during a protest in the wake of George Floyd’s murder last year.
Alabama woman’s case becomes test of federal anti-riot law
The Justice Department dispatched its top terror prosecutor to defend a statute the Trump administration turned to in its fight against violence at racial justice protests.
Tia Pugh s case has emerged as a test of a controversial half-century-old law that has become one of the key tools the Justice Department is using to pursue violence stemming from protests and civil unrest. | Jose Luis Magana/AP Photo
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MOBILE, Ala. The Justice Department dispatched one of its senior counterterrorism prosecutors for a court showdown Thursday over an event that rarely makes its way to federal court: a broken window.
Attorney for Mobile woman facing federal riot charge claims law is racist
Updated 9:57 PM;
An attorney representing a Mobile woman facing federal charges stemming from her allegedly smashing the window of a police vehicle during last year’s George Floyd protests claimed in court Thursday that the statute his client is charged under has racist origins, according to a report.
Tia Pugh was charged with obstructing, impeding and interfering with law enforcement during the course of a civil disorder that affected interstate commerce for allegedly smashing the window during the May 31 protest in Mobile as demonstrators attempted to block Interstate 10.
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