The first Moral Monday activist to be tried has been found guilty by a Raleigh court.
Wake County District Court Judge Joy Hamilton found Saladin Muammad guilty on three counts Friday afternoon. They were misdemeanor charges for trespassing, failing to disperse and violating building rules at a protest on May thirteenth.
Another protester, Patrick O'Neill, said he wasn't surprised at today's guilty charge. But Muammad and his attorney plan to appeal, and O'Neill thinks that could have a better result.
"I actually think that we do have a pretty good chance of acquittal at the superior court level, but I could also see these cases dragging out for years," says O'Neill. "I mean, one case out of more than 900 took all day, and they're not combining the cases for some reason, even though the evidentiary facts are similar," says O'Neill.
More than 900 people were arrested for protesting at the General Assembly during this year's legislative session.