Three activists, Jessy Matthews, along with Kimmy and Lily, who provided only their first names, held a press conference outside of New Britain Superior Court, accusing members of the New Britain Police Department of targeting them for their protests. The conference was held immediately after their first court date for second degree charges of breach of peace.

“I have read the warrants that were issued in this case,” said Jon Schoenhorn, a Hartford-based attorney representing the activists. “Although this is the first court appearance, my initial analysis of those warrants suggests that the purpose of the arrest was to infringe on the First Amendment rights of Kimmy, Jessy and Lily. We will at some point be filing, in each of these cases, a motion to dismiss.”

The activists are members of Dare to Struggle CT, a group whose members are protesting NBPD’s treatment of the homeless. The activists and their lawyers, Schoenhorn and Alex Taubes, accused NBPD of surveilling them, filing incomplete warrants prior to their arrests, and of arresting them for the sole purpose of disrupting their planned protest of a police event, in violation of their rights to free speech and assembly. Schoenhorn said that he requested body camera videos of the arrests, any pertinent 911 calls, and police radio communications between officers as part of discovery for the case.

“New Britain police is using these arrests to intimidate us and suppress free speech,” said an unnamed Dare to Struggle spokesperson. “If we allow New Britain police to use absurd charges to stop us from protesting, they and other police departments will remain emboldened to target any activist group when we step out of line from what they deem acceptable.”

The three were told their breach of peace charges stemmed from an “impromptu protest” they held on July 31st outside the Assembly Room, a New Britain restaurant. The group said they decided to protest the restaurant after being kicked out for bringing in homeless activists. Dare to Struggle said NBPD were called to the Assembly Room twice that day, but did not arrest anyone at the time. On Aug. 5, warrant applications were drafted by NBPD and signed by New Britain Judge Chris Pelosi, leading to the arrests of Kimmy and Lily at their homes that same day. Matthew turned himself in the following day after learning a warrant had been placed for his arrest as well.

Dare to Struggle questioned the timing and intent of these warrants and subsequent arrests, saying they came only hours prior to the group’s planned protest of NBPD’s “National Night Out,” an annual community-policing awareness event held by police departments nationwide.

“After they booked me, the detective read me my Miranda rights and tried to question me, and asked me, ‘Do you know that tonight is the National Night Out?,'” said Kimmy. “We found that piece of the puzzle particularly interesting because we had posted to our social media our intent to protest the National Night Out.”

Lily said the warrants themselves indicated that police found no cause to arrest them the day of July 31st protest.

“Despite officers being there to kick us out and issue trespass orders, they left, as we protested on the sidewalk,” said Lily. “The warrant itself admits that when officers were, ‘recalled to the location, no disturbance was located.’ So they admit there was no disturbance when they arrived a second time — with two separate instances of several officers breathing down our necks, talking to witnesses, gathering testimony, they still found no excuse to arrest us.”

Kimmy said she was denied her right to see a warrant when she was arrested, and accused officers of forcing cuffs on her as soon as she stated her intent to record the interaction. She said she wasn’t allowed back in the house to put shoes on, and as a result, she went to jail in “bare feet.”

“I said, ‘I want to get my phone to record this interaction,’ and before I could even turn around, they grabbed me by my arm, yanked me out of my front door, out of my house, and put me in handcuffs on my front stoop,” said Kimmy. “I said that I wanted to see a warrant, they did not produce one. They said, ‘Oh, we don’t carry those around in case we lose them.'”

Dare to Struggle members also accused officers of having only completed applications for warrants at the time of their arrests. The group accused NBPD of drawing up these warrant applications, “under false pretenses,” and also accused NBPD of having “staked out” Lily’s home with unmarked cars prior to her arrest, and putting all three of them,”through questioning, all to prevent Dare to Struggle from protesting the National Night Out.”

Dare to Struggle members also allege that their paperwork indicated that NBPD’s Intelligence Unit had been surveilling the group prior to the arrests.

“Members of the New Britain Police Department’s Intel Unit are familiar with the group called Dare to Struggle CT,” reads an excerpt of the warrants provided by Dare to Struggle. “Through previous intelligence gathering, [Dare to Struggle members] are frequently seen with megaphones shouting their hatred for the police.”

Taubes shared his belief that the activists’ arrests were “unconstitutional, plain and simple,” and highlighted the lack of serious allegations written into the warrants.

“This affidavit contains no allegations of any violence, no allegations of any threats [from] Dare to Struggle, no allegations of any incitement to threats or provocation of fighting, just speech,” said Taubes. “Loud speech, angry speech and some profanity, yes indeed, but that is the point of a protest!”

Dec. 3 will mark the activists’ next court hearing, said Schoenhorn. Dare to Struggle called on, “churches, community groups, activists and organizations fighting injustice across Connecticut to publicly speak about New Britain police harassment.”

“This warrant should be withdrawn immediately by New Britain State’s Attorney, Christian Watson,” said Taubes. “If the city of New Britain and the State’s Attorney’s Office continues to insist on prosecuting people merely for their words, John and I will fight this in court, and we will win because the law is clear, the Constitution is clear, and the right of the people to speak truth to power does not depend on being polite.”

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