Wokeness Defeats Rule Of Law
This is a genuinely terrible ruling from the UK, one that sets a horrible precedent in that country:
Anti-racism campaigners tonight hailed a jury’s decision to clear protesters responsible for toppling a statue of the slave trader Edward Colston as a huge step in getting the UK to face up to its colonial past.
Jake Skuse 33, Rhian Graham, 30, Milo Ponsford, 26, and Sage Willoughby, 22, did not dispute the roles they had played in pulling down the statue and throwing it in the River Avon during a 2020 Black Lives Matter protest but all denied criminal damage.
In closing statements following the nine-day trial, the defence had urged jurors to “be on the right side of history”, saying the statue, which stood over the city for 125 years, was so indecent and potentially abusive that it constituted a crime.
After just under three hours’ deliberation, a jury of six men and six women found the so-called “Colston Four” not guilty by an 11 to one majority decision at Bristol crown court on Wednesday afternoon.
More:
But some critics reacted with fury. Scott Benton, a Conservative MP, denounced the verdict as an “absolutely appalling decision”, tweeting: “Are we now a nation which ignores violent acts of criminal damage? This sends out completely the wrong message.”
The former Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie said he could not help “questioning the sanity of the jury”. He added: “The verdict was a shocking signal to every lefty protester in the country that they can damage with impunity as long as they chant the phrase hate crime.”
One more:
In the trial, in which few facts were in question, the four defendants argued that their actions were justified because the statue was so offensive.
Each defendant described being motivated by sincere antiracist conviction, frustration that previous attempts to persuade the council to remove the statue had failed, and a belief that the statue was so offensive it constituted an indecent display or a hate crime. …
But Liam Walker QC, representing Willoughby, said: “Each of these defendants were on the right side of history, and I submit, they were also on the right side of the law. Colston’s deeds may be historical but the continued veneration of him in this city was not. The continued veneration of him in a vibrant multicultural city was an act of abuse.”
Notice that this wasn’t a woke judge deciding this, but a jury. These defendants admitted that they did this crime, but said, Castro-like, “History will absolve us!” And a jury agreed with them! It has now been established in England that you can commit crimes but if you are on the “right side of history,” you can get away with it.
So much for the rule of law. Meanwhile, in Surrey, the police are tracking down the REAL criminals:
.@SurreyPolice consider this a public order offence and wish to arrest the person who posted it.
Please retweet if you disagree this is a public order offence and that the police should have better things to do. pic.twitter.com/HusqNdoRRI
— WeAreFairCop (@WeAreFairCop) January 2, 2022
