"He is one of us and his arrest sends a message that peaceful dissent is being criminalized, Shawn VanDiver, the founder and president of #AfghanEvac, an umbrella group bringing together military veterans, national security leaders, intelligence workers and refugee rights groups, wrote to his membership after the Guardian revealed Mavalwalla's arrest Tuesday. We want to say this loud and clear. We will not be intimidated, VanDiver, a navy veteran, wrote."
"The 11 June protest against Ice that led to Mavalwalla's arrest was confrontational, leaving a government van's windshield smashed and tires slashed, but Mavalwalla was not among the more than two dozen people arrested at the scene. A one-minute video posted on Instagram shows the army veteran briefly jostle with an officer whose face is covered by a ski mask and sunglasses. Mavalwalla then locks arms with other demonstrators to block the gate outside a federal building in Spokane, Washington."
"More than a month passed before the FBI came to his door on 15 July and took the 35-year-old Afghanistan war veteran away in handcuffs. He is not charged with obstruction or assault, acts that typically involve a victim and assailant; the federal conspiracy charge he faces is a crime of intent. Legal experts say prosecutors will simply have to prove that Mavalwalla agreed with others on a plan to impede or injure an officer. Mavalwalla pleaded not guilty."
Former US Army sergeant Bajun Mavalwalla II, an Afghanistan war veteran who helped evacuate Afghan allies, was arrested on federal conspiracy charges for his role in a June 11 protest against ICE. The protest turned confrontational, with a government van's windshield smashed and tires slashed; Mavalwalla briefly jostled with an officer on video and linked arms with demonstrators but was not initially arrested. The FBI arrested him at his home on July 15. Prosecutors must prove agreement to impede or injure an officer to secure a conspiracy conviction; Mavalwalla pleaded not guilty. Fellow veterans expressed outrage, saying the arrest criminalizes peaceful dissent.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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