A California couple who was noticed in a viral video on a Black Lives Matter mural pleaded guilty to the hate crimes charges, and his lawyer called the accusations against them “outrageous and politicized.””
Nicole Anderson and David Nelson arrived in Martinez’s courthouse on Tuesday to plead guilty to 3 misdemeanor counts, adding hooliganism and hate crimes, stemming from last month’s incident.
Anderson, four, and Nelson, 53, were filmed on July Fourth demoting a city-approved Black Lives Matter mural outside the Wakefield Taylor Courthouse, portraying it in black paint.
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On Tuesday, Nicole Anderson and David Nelson (center) pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor charges, adding vandalism and hate crime, for degrading a BLM mural
The couple spoke after the hearing, but their attorney called the hate crimes fees ‘outrageous and politicized’.
The couple commented on the accusations against them Tuesday after their brief court appearance, but their defense attorney, Bill Essayli, spoke to reporters in court and charged Contra Costa District Attorney Diana Becton with overcharge your customers.
“If she had just accused him of vandalism, it would be a totally different problem,” Essayli said.The fact that she accused him of vandalism and hate crime is what creates this problem.It’s rubbish, it’s an overload. In our opinion, this is a political message, and the judicial formula deserves not to be armed in this way.”
According to the district attorney’s office, a resident of Martinez applied for a permit to paint the open-air translation mural of the local courthouse on July 1.The permit was approved and the portrait took position three days later.
Nelson, dressed in a U.S. flag-themed T-shirt, and Anderson, dressed in Donald Trump’s crusade attire, arrived at the mural scene after being supplemented with paint supplies.
Anderson was filmed with a giant paint curler to paint the letters “B” and “L” of the word Black, which had been painted yellow.
When a witness asks the woman “what’s wrong with you,” her male partner replies “we’ve had enough of the story, this is what it is.”
“The story of police brutality, the narrative of oppression, the narrative of racism, is a lie,” adds Nelson, dressed in his “MAGA” hat.
Nelson, who recorded the incident, then showed the Black Lives Matter signal and called it “racism.”
An argument erupts between Nelson and the spectators as Anderson continues with the mural.
“There is no oppression. There’s no racism,” Nelson says. It’s a lie left …the media.
Anderson then gets angry at witnesses and exclaims, “Keep that is” in f “New York!This is not going to happen in my city!
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Posted via Associated Newspapers Ltd
Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday and Metro Media Group