Charges dropped against 'street theater' actor who cited ICE prison abuses

Charges were dismissed today against a second defendant who was arrested April 3 while participating in a “street theater” performance dramatizing ICE prison abuses.

Zyanya Cruz: Charges Dismissed   Moore Media Images

Charges of disorderly conduct and obstructing a highway or passageway against Zyanya Cruz were dismissed in Shelby County General Sessions criminal court after attorney Jason Ballenger successfully argued the warrant charging her was defective.

On April 5, charges were dismissed against journalist Manuel Duran, leaving seven of nine defendants remaining from the MLK50 week action. Duran was detained in Shelby County jail even after family members posted bond, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents picked him up for deportation upon his release.

Police arrest Zyanya Cruz April 3    Moore Media Images

The affidavit citing Cruz stated she was in a group taking part in an "unauthorized event," but it was vague and did not specify what Cruz did exactly to give officers probable cause to arrest her, explained Ballenger, who is working pro bono on behalf of several defendants from the MLK50 week action. The next court appearances for the other defendants are scheduled for various dates in May and June. 

DID LOCALS ASSIST ICE?
Southern Poverty Law Center attorney Michelle Lapointe, in a press conference last week in Memphis, accused Memphis police and the Shelby County sheriff of cooperating with ICE to arrest and hold Duran. MPD and the sheriff contend they do not cooperate with ICE and do not hold prisoners for deportation.

Journalist Manuel Duran live-streams April 3
Moore Media Images

Duran continues to be held in LaSalle Detention Center, a facility owned by private prison multinational GEO Group Inc., in Jena, Louisiana. Attorneys from Latino Memphis and Southern Poverty Law Center are working on his behalf, with petitions in Louisiana Western District federal court for his immediate release, and in Atlanta immigration court to hear his case.

Duran was the only journalist arrested, among local media and international outlets such as the New York Times, the Guardian and the BBC, which were present at the “Rolling Block Party 2:01 at 201" action to highlight abuses within ICE detention centers. Among other things, the for-profit prisons have been accused in lawsuits of forcing prisoners to labor for pennies a day, then charging them for food, water and toiletries. (The address of the Shelby County Justice Center is 201 Poplar.)  

Activists further were highlighting systemic problems which remain, even 50 years after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered in Memphis April 4, 1968, such as a cheap labor economy and the racial wealth gap. 

WHAT WOULD MLK DO?
Answering the hypothetical question, “What would Dr. King do?” to commemorate MLK50, an ICE agent actor was leading 10 female “chained prisoners” across the street. Within 60 seconds after they entered the crosswalk at 201 Poplar, members of MPD’s Multi-Agent Gang Unit (MGU) and Organized Crime Unit (OCU) began making arrests.

The duration of the stop light at the next block east of 201 Poplar, at Poplar and Danny Thomas Boulevard, lasts 51 seconds.

AND WHAT IF?
After succeeding at getting Duran's criminal case dismissed, criminal defense attorney Ann Schilling posed this question:

“This was a peaceful demonstration. What would have happened if the police had let them finish walking down the sidewalk?”