Charges were dismissed Thursday against a group of demonstrators accused of blocking the 101 Freeway during a 2014 protest against the police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., part of a series of Los Angeles demonstrations that drew national attention because of the high number of arrests police made.
Attorneys representing the seven Black Lives Matter protesters have long called for the misdemeanor charges filed against their clients to be thrown out, saying the demonstrators were peacefully exercising their free speech rights. In March, jurors rejected some of the charges against some of protesters but could not agree on a verdict on all of the counts.
On Thursday, prosecutors said they would not seek another trial.
“We analyzed the results of the first trial and decided not to retry the cases,” said Rob Wilcox, a spokesman for the city attorney’s office.
