{"id":4861,"date":"2017-05-03T22:49:05","date_gmt":"2017-05-04T05:49:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=4861"},"modified":"2017-05-03T22:51:59","modified_gmt":"2017-05-04T05:51:59","slug":"code-pink-protesters-sessions-hearing-face-year-prison-christopher-mele-nytimes-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2017\/05\/03\/code-pink-protesters-sessions-hearing-face-year-prison-christopher-mele-nytimes-com\/","title":{"rendered":"“Code Pink Protesters at Sessions Hearing Could Face Year in Prison” by Christopher Mele (nytimes.com)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Desiree Fairooz, right, an activist affiliated with the group Code Pink, at the confirmation hearing in January on the nomination of Jeff Sessions to be attorney general.<\/span> Credit<\/span>Andrew Harnik\/Associated Press<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

May 3, 2017<\/p>\n

A jury on Wednesday convicted three Code Pink protesters on charges that they disrupted the confirmation hearing of Jeff Sessions for attorney general \u2014 including a Virginia woman who said all she did was break out in laughter. Each could face up to 12 months in prison.<\/p>\n

The Virginia woman, Desiree A. Fairooz, was found guilty of the two charges she faced: disorderly conduct and parading or demonstrating on Capitol grounds.<\/p>\n

The jury also convicted two other activists in the group she was with, Tighe Barry and Lenny Bianchi<\/a>, who were dressed as Ku Klux Klan members with white hoods and robes and stood up before the Jan. 10 hearing started.<\/p>\n

They were acquitted on a count of disorderly conduct but were convicted on two separate charges of parading or demonstrating, Mr. Barry said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The verdicts were returned shortly after noon Wednesday. A two-day trial in United States Superior Court in Washington ended on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Ms. Fairooz, 61, of Bluemont, Va., said she was \u201creally disappointed.\u201d She said her lawyer, Samuel A. Bogash, would file post-trial motions seeking to set the verdict aside. She said it was too early to discuss an appeal.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll face that music when we get to that,\u201d Ms. Fairooz said. She added that she was undeterred and would continue to protest.<\/p>\n

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Officers leading Ms. Fairooz out of the hearing.<\/span> Credit<\/span>Alex Brandon\/Associated Press<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so disgusted with so many different aspects of our current government,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

A spokesman for the United States Attorney\u2019s Office in Washington did not immediately return a call and email seeking comment about the case.<\/p>\n

It was early in the hearing when Senator Richard Shelby, Republican of Alabama, said that Mr. Sessions\u2019s record of \u201ctreating all Americans equally under the law is clear and well-documented,\u201d Ariel Gold, the campaign director of Code Pink, said on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Ms. Fairooz said that, on hearing that, she let out a giggle.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just couldn\u2019t hold it,\u201d she said on Wednesday. \u201cIt was spontaneous. It was an immediate rejection of what I considered an outright lie or pure ignorance.\u201d<\/p>\n

She said when officers came over, she expected to be warned or told to shush and was surprised to be taken into custody.<\/p>\n

Mr. Session\u2019s nomination was contentious, as critics, pointing to past statements he had made, asserted, among other things, that he was a racist.<\/p>\n

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Another protester escorted out of Sessions hearing. Her original offense appeared to be simply laughing.<\/p>\n