Hart Bridge protesters plead not guilty

Pretrial hearings set for Feb. 10; final protester to be arraigned Wednesday

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – All but one of the 19 people who were arrested during the Hart Bridge protest one December afternoon pleaded not guilty Tuesday to misdemeanor highway obstruction charges.

All 18 pleaded not guilty and their pretrial hearings are scheduled for Feb. 10.

The protesters, who blocked traffic on the bridge during rush hour Dec. 9, claimed they were wrongfully arrested for protesting what they call police violence and brutality across the nation and, they say, locally.

"I don't feel like the 15 minutes we held up traffic (is cause) to be arrested," said Deanna Bullard.

Tuesday's hearing drew more demonstrators to the Duval County Courthouse, standing outside to show support for those they call the "Jacksonville 19."

The 18 protesters who entered pleas Tuesday were: 

  • Brianna Odom
  • Aleta Alston
  • Joshua Weber
  • Deanna Bullard
  • Baholelwa Misabiko
  • Julian Brown
  • Arthuron Harrison
  • Reginald Liner
  • Twyla Wilkins
  • Hailey Harbuck
  • Daryll Paiva
  • Eleanor Wilson
  • Autrelle Holland
  • Orain Reddick
  • Kwabene? Seabrooks
  • Semeka Smith
  • Matthew Inman
  • Alan Jackson?

One protester -- Siddie Anne Friar of Deerfield Beach -- faces an additional charge. She is accused of punching an officer in the face during her arrest and has been charged with resisting arrest and battery on a police officer. 

Friar was released from jail weeks ago. She will be back for a hearing Wednesday morning.

"What we do is positive and it's for the better(ment) of everyone," said Autrelle Holland, one of there protesters to appear in person at Tuesday's hearing. "It's about human rights, and we believe that all lives matter."

Defense attorneys, including Richard Brown, represented the other 15 defendants.

"My objective is just to determine what it is they're charging my client with and who are the witnesses and what the proof is, because if you pull the police reports for all of the people arrested you'll see it's the same cut and paste narrative on every police report without saying specifically what that person did," Brown said. "So we're just trying to find out what they're accusing each individual -- including my client -- of doing."

Police said more than a dozen people got out of cars with protest signs around 5 p.m. Dec. 9 and began walking slowly down the Hart Bridge with the cars following slowly behind, blocking the bridge.

"We're not going to stop having our voices heard, whether it's shutting down a bridge, passing out flyers or organizing more protests," said Bullard.