The United States government has dismissed all charges against the remaining 39 people arrested over their alleged participation in a protest against President Donald Trump’s Inauguration Day.
“Upon consideration of the government’s motion to dismiss in this case, it is: ORDERED that these cases be dismissed without prejudice,” read Friday’s order from Judge Robert Morin.
The order came after prosecutors moved to have the remaining charges dropped, ending more than an entire year of trials and similar motions after most of the more than 230 people initially arrested were charged with felony rioting.
The cases stem from an anti-fascist and anti-capitalist protest on January 20, 2017, during which police clashed with demonstrators and detained hundreds of people, including medics, journalists and bystanders.
A handful of protesters destroyed property as they made their way through the streets of DC.
After the initial charges, the Superior Court of DC returned a superseding indictment that added additional charges for some 212 defendants. The charges carried sentences of more than 60 years in jail.
Roughly 21 of the defendants pled guilty, while the remaining – about 190 – were divided up into multiple trial groups.
What followed was more than a year of hearings and waiting for the trials to take place.
“The state failed at silencing dissent and today our movement is stronger than it was on #J20,” tweeted Dylan Petrohilos, who did not attend the rally, but was charged as part of the superseding indictment. Petrohilos had his charges dropped at the end of May.
“I’m proud of all my co-defendants, and everyone in the streets who resisted fascism and state violence,” he said on Friday.
