State Attorney Drops Charges Against 67 Arrested Protesters

TAMPA, FL — Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren announced that the state attorney’s office will not be filing charges against the 67 protesters arrested for unlawful assembly on the night of June 2.

The State Attorney's Office is in the process of reviewing approximately 200 arrests involving protests that began the night of Saturday, May 30, including those 67.

In each of the 67 arrests from June 2, the evidence shows that the people arrested were peacefully protesting, according to Warren. He said there was no violence, no vandalism and no attack on a police officer.

In addition to dropping the charges, the state attorney's office will work to expunge the arrests and Warren said his office intends to handle any future arrests with similar circumstances in a similar way.

“I’ve said many times that criminal justice reform involves looking at each case as a problem to solve, not just a person to be punished,” Warren said. “In these unlawful assembly cases, there is no value in filing charges. Prosecuting people for exercising their First Amendment rights creates problems rather than solving them. It can weaken the bonds between law enforcement and the community, while undermining faith in our system.”

Under Florida law, an “unlawful assembly” is a gathering of three or more people with a “common unlawful purpose” that must have an “intent to do an unlawful act which threatens the peace.”

Also, they must assemble in a way that gives “rational, firm and courageous persons in the neighborhood of the assembly a well-grounded fear of a breach of the peace.” Based on the state attorney's office’s review, the 67 cases outlined above do not meet that standard.

Warren added, however, that as protests continue to fight against racial inequality, his office will prosecute anyone who tries to take advantage of the protests to commit crimes for personal gain or to cause destruction.

“I want to make one thing clear: while we have no intention of prosecuting anyone who is peacefully protesting, we will not tolerate people looking to exploit this moment,” Warren said. “There is no place for violence or destruction that puts the safety of our citizens—including our law enforcement officers—at risk.”