City Drops Charges Against 9 Protesters

The city attorney’s office dismissed charges Tuesday against nine people arrested at antiwar protests in March.

The protesters, who earlier turned down an offer to plead no contest to an infraction, viewed the dismissal as a victory.

“It was the right thing to do -- to protest and to insist on our right to a trial,” said Muffy Sunde, 53. “We had an absolute 1st Amendment right to protest this war.”

Jerry Baik, a supervisor in the city attorney’s office, said he dropped the charges because the defendants did not have criminal histories and had not been rearrested. The protesters were arrested March 22 and faced misdemeanor charges of obstructing traffic, failing to disperse and blocking the sidewalk.