Pro-Palestine Protester Faces Controversial Charges In South Orange

THE ORANGES, NJ — Activists in South Orange are alleging that one of their own was “targeted” by police after a recent pro-Palestine protest.

Lisa Davis is facing a pending court date in South Orange Municipal Court on June 18 for two citations – “holding a special event without a permit” and creating a “loud, continuous or excessive noise” with amplification equipment – which she and other activists say should be immediately dropped.

South Orange Police Chief Ernesto Morillo told Patch that he can’t comment on the pending court case. However, he confirmed that “the South Orange Police Department has not arrested any person related to any protest or demonstration.”

Both citations date back to a pro-Palestine “ceasefire” rally that took place on March 31.

According to an online petition that has gathered hundreds of signatures, activists have been holding weekly “Ceasefire Sunday” gatherings in South Orange and Maplewood since December. The rallies have been “consistently peaceful” and have attracted hundreds of people.

But demonstrators say they have also faced repeated verbal abuse from anti-Palestinian protestors, who have threatened and spat on the group. Once, a motorist attempted to drive a car into several of them as they were crossing the street, activists claim.

And the March demonstration wasn’t an exception to that unfortunate trend, activists say:

“On March 31, Lisa Davis attended the regularly scheduled Ceasefire Sunday demonstration along with 30-40 others. She was not an organizer, she was merely a participant in this peaceful event. At the end of the demonstration, a man stopped his car in the middle of South Orange Avenue, jumped onto the sidewalk, and began aggressively and violently berating group members. He yelled ‘terrorists’ at two young women, denied the existence of Palestine, and berated the entire group, including repeatedly approaching Ms. Davis and others and yelling in their faces.”

Activists noted that Davis was holding a megaphone at the time, but she wasn’t using it.

Here’s what happened next, the petition states:

“Due to the violent disruption caused by this anti-Palestinian aggressor, members of the group called 911 for protection. The [South Orange Police Department] responded, spoke to the man, and took him for a wellness check. SOPD officers then requested further information from group members about the assault, and Ms. Davis voluntarily shared information, including video. The following day, without further questioning or contact from SOPD, she received a ticket by mail, containing the two false charges above.”

According to advocates, Davis – a Black activist with the Black Is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations and a member of the Uhuru Movement – is the only person to have been ticketed in connection with Ceasefire Sundays since they began.

“We demand that these charges be dropped,” the petition states, also calling for an investigation into the actions of the South Orange Police Department.

Davis has shared her own account of what happened on March 31, which can be seen on fightbackbetter.com. She has also shared a livestream video of the encounter, which can be viewed online here.

“Firstly, I am not the organizer of these protests, which have been ongoing since November,” Davis wrote. “I simply attend them!”

“Secondly, I never lead the protests or the chants,” she continued. “At the end of the vigils, the organizers will usually allow people to make announcements. And on the day in question I was given a miniature, plastic megaphone at the end of the vigil / for that purpose. However, I don’t even recall making an announcement as it was at that moment that the unhinged person interrupted the event.”

“I am going to fight this with everything that I have, and expose the corruption of this system at every turn,” Davis said. “And I will not allow the state to intimidate me into silence against this unjust, warmongering government, which is the cause of so much war and misery throughout the world.”

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