Man accused of using laser pointer during 2020 Iowa City BLM protest pleads guilty to Des Moines protest incident 1630kcjj.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from 1630kcjj.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
05/28/21
A case against a Black Liberation Movement leader accused of injuring University of Iowa police officers with a laser pointer should be dismissed, according to the man’s attorney.
The Press-Citizen reports that Aaron Page argues the state hasn’t presented evidence that a laser pointer is capable of causing the type of eye injury his client, activist Mate Muhammad, is accused of. Muhammad was previously known as Matthew Bruce, which is what court records are referring to him as.
Attorney Page said in his filing that he sought the injured officers’ medical records and the deposition of UI ophthalmologist Dr. Tim Johnson, who provided medical treatment to the officers during an August protest. Page said he never got those records.
Matè Muhammad in the garden of the house where he lives in Des Moines on April 30, 2021.Rachel Mummey / for NBC News Matè Muhammad said he knew something big was rising: As protests unfurled across the country following George Floyd’s murder last May, hundreds of people were also flooding the streets of Des Moines, Iowa, his hometown.
From Chicago, where he lived at the time, Muhammad watched livefeeds of protesters in Des Moines squaring off against police in riot gear. Some smashed windows and threw water bottles. Crowds ran from tear gas and pepper spray. This was an unimaginable sight for Iowa’s capital, which did not have a Black Lives Matter chapter, let alone massive street protests for racial justice.
Iowa reporter faces trial in case seen as attack on press rights thegazette.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thegazette.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.