San Bernardino District Attorney’s persecution of black activists goes to trial

After years of delay, the trial of one of the 11 protestors who was arrested during a protest in support of Lawrence Bender, an unarmed Black man who was shot by a Rialto police officer in 2019, began Tuesday in Joshua Tree after prosecutors moved the trial to a new location more than 75 miles away. 

Donavan Caver – a member of the group formerly known as Black Lives Matter IE was arrested and charged with vandalism in which he used chalk in response to San Bernardino Sheriffs brutally assaulting and arresting other protestors who were demonstrating outside the San Bernardino Superior Court on July 10, 2020. Since then, the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office has persecuted and unfairly targeted Caver and the other protestors who were present that day.  

“The DA is trying to make an example of Black citizens who made their voices heard. To pursue charges like this is a waste of resources and clearly intended to disrupt organizers who care about Black life in San Bernardino County,” said Donavan Caver, a founding member of BPC-IE and the defendant facing trial today.

You can support the defendants by donating to their legal defense fund, accessible through Venmo: BPCIE.