New Orleans rallies around activist Toni Jones’s court hearing after arrest

New Orleans, LA — On Tuesday March 31 at 10 a.m., a crowd of about 15 people came out to New Orleans Municipal Court to support activist Toni Jones and demand her charges be dropped. Jones is facing trumped-up charges of disturbing the peace and disrupting city council following an action for Jace Lee Scott at the Criminal Justice Committee (CJC) meeting on Monday March 30.

M. R. Framboise from the Freedom Road Socialist Organization spoke in support of her fellow organizer saying, “This is not only an attack on Toni. It is a government-driven attack on the people of the City of New Orleans and the broad masses of the people at large.”

Framboise continued, “The NOPD and city council have clearly communicated to the community that when the people stand up for themselves, their mics will be truncated; they will be brutalized, and they will be detained.”

Jones, chairwoman of the New Orleans Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NOAARPR), was defending the right to public comment when she was arrested. Shanta Scott, Jace’s mother, spoke to the CJC Councilmembers Eugene Green and Freddie King III about her son’s murder by Andrew Gant and the cover-up by the New Orleans Police Department. Scott spoke to ask about NOPD policy when an officer’s family member is involved in a murder. As soon as she mentioned the name of NOPD’s crooked cop Victor Gant Jr., Andrew’s father, Councilman Freddie King III cut off Scott’s mic despite her comments remaining entirely germane.

Jones spoke out against the cut mic, insisting to King that Scott’s comments were germane to the discussion on NOPD policy. Instead of responding to Scott’s pleas for answers, Councilmembers Green and King turned their backs on her and left the chambers. New Orleans police then surrounded the crowd of supporters and targeted Jones, putting her in handcuffs and dragging her out of the chambers. NOAARPR quickly released a call-in statement that put pressure on the city attorney and Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office that resulted in her release with no bond.

Jones herself also spoke at the rally, “One of places I go in the search for justice is to the jailhouse, and all I see are people going through unnecessary misery for months, without even having a trial.” Jones referred to the community support that she knew was present from within the jailhouse, saying, “When I was in the jail, I knew that I had all of you with me. My jailers themselves came down to let me know, ‘They support you. They are with you, so don’t even bother taking your medical [exam], you’re going home.’”

Jones concluded, “Even in the places where justice cannot be found, we can build momentum. We can build hope, and we can build the fight for liberation!”

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