(This is a second cut of the Free Franklin defendant's press conference video. The audio/video synch has been fixed, and a short clip of one defendant clearly explaining the decision of the judge to try and keep the main defense out of the trial has beeen added)

On the 12th of July, the defendants who went to trial for the November
19th takeover of Franklin School/shelter were found "guilty," but the
judge gave them a very light sentence.On the other hand, the judge REFUSED to allow most of the defendants' primary defense, that they had a good faith belief that they had a lawful reason to be in the builidng, to be used. This is a valid defense to "unlawful entry" under DC law but the judge did all he could to keep it from the jury. The jury was then told to ignore what part of it they heard.

This was the third takeover of Franklin School, this time by Free Franklin backed by Occupy DC on Nov 19, 2012. The trial ended July 12, 2012 with convictions but only 5 days suspended jail time, 3 months unsupervised probation, and a $50 payment to the Victims of Crimes fund. The 2002 and 2003 MAYDAY DC takeovers were the reason Franklin School was ever a homeless shelter. One of the defendants cited this history in warning developers NOT to buy Franklin School