A Trump-appointed federal judge in Texas abruptly ended a closely watched terrorism trial Tuesday over a defense attorney’s shirt.
As Raw Story has reported, a trial was to begin in Fort Worth that would’ve tested whether President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice could use a criminalized notion of “antifa” to convict nine anti-ICE activists of attempted murder and terrorism, after they shot fireworks and vandalized government vehicles.
But the case blew up when U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman declared a mistrial just hours into jury selection after attorney MarQuetta Clayton appeared in court wearing a blazer that concealed a shirt emblazoned with images of civil rights icons Martin Luther King Jr. and Shirley Chisholm, The Guardian reported. The judge claimed the hidden shirt sent a “political message” that could poison jurors’ minds.
Clayton wore the shirt the entire day, but Pittman objected once she started questioning potential jurors.
“I don’t think I have any choice but to declare a mistrial,” said Pittman, who also gave Clayton a slap on the wrist for showing a poster to potential jurors that wasn’t submitted to the court ahead of time. “This has to be a first in the history of American jurisprudence, I would think.”
The Trump administration has painted the group as a “North-Texas antifa cell,” marking the first time feds have leveled terrorism charges against antifa activists.
Defense attorneys opposed the mistrial, with jurors themselves saying they never saw Clayton’s shirt and wouldn’t have been influenced anyway. One dismissed juror told reporters he didn’t think the imagery would sway his judgment.
Clayton, who’s running for county judge, remained tight-lipped as she left the courthouse. The trial is set to restart Monday with a new jury panel.
Pittman concluded by condemning partisan division, saying he was “absolutely disgusted” by it and demanded the nation finds a “way to turn down the anger.”
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