Onyitex Joseph
Brittany Martin, 34, was found guilty of breaching the peace in a high and aggravated manner over comments she made to police, raising concerns about free speech and equal justice.
A pregnant Black activist serving four years in prison for her actions during racial justice protests will have her sentence reconsidered as she approaches her due date behind bars.
Brittany Martin, 34, was found guilty of breaching the peace in a high and aggravated manner over comments she made to police, raising concerns about free speech and equal justice. Her lawyers have been arguing for a reduced sentence due to growing concerns about her health and her baby’s health, due in November.
Black Voters Matter activists have circulated a petition calling for her release. Bakari Sellers, a civil rights attorney and former state lawmaker, will tell the judge on September 12 that the punishment is unjust.
“She’s in jail because she talked in America,” said Sybil Dione Rosado, her trial attorney. “She’s a dark-skinned Black woman who is unapologetically Black and radical.”
Martin moved to Sumter, South Carolina, with her four younger children in the spring of 2020, after the police killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd sparked a nationwide movement that year, according to her sister.
But Martin had another thought: in 2016, Sumter police fatally shot her brother-in-law 19 times after officers claimed he fired a gun during a chase in a stolen car. She was carrying grief from her family’s past when she took to the streets.
Prosecutors presented police body camera recordings in court that included snippets of those demonstrations. According to the AP, they don’t show her laying hands on any officers.
Martin can be seen chanting “No justice, no peace” in the face of an officer in videos from May 31, 2020. Before dispersing the crowd, police donned riot gear and discussed using tear gas.
Martin used harsher language several days later.
“Some of us gon’ be hurting. And some of y’all gon’ be hurting,” Martin told officers. “We ready to die for this. We are tired of it. You better be ready to die for the blue. I’m ready to die for the Black.”
The jury found Martin not guilty of inciting a riot but deadlocked on whether she threatened officers’ lives. According to investigator Tony Kennedy, her legal team was “elated” when jurors found her guilty only of breach of the peace, punishable by a $500 fine and 30 days in jail.
Breach of the peace is defined by state law as any disturbance, “dangerous and disorderly persons,” or people who make “menaces or threatening speeches.” However, prosecutors framed the charge as a “high and aggravated” crime punishable by up to ten years in prison. Rosado claimed that Judge Kirk Griffin denied her the opportunity to explain the distinction to the jury and the possibility of a much harsher penalty.
Prosecutors did not respond to requests for interviews. Given the possibility of further action, Sumter police said it would be inappropriate to comment.
The sentence was described as “beyond the pale” by Sellers.
“You have people who stormed the Capitol, killed law enforcement, attempted to overturn an election and fractured democracy.” “And they’re getting two, three, or six months,” Sellers explained. “And Brittany Martin will serve four years.”
More than 330 of the approximately 850 people charged with federal crimes related to the January 6 insurgency have pleaded guilty in exchange for lesser sentences, most of which are misdemeanours punishable by no more than a year.
