Authors: Kylie Hall, Norma Sarofiem, Lilly Kupersmit, Aarohi Dessi
A U.S. military Veteran was found not guilty on counts of vandalism and terroristic threats by a unanimous jury, and all charges have been dropped.
Lulu Miner, a 36-year-old veteran from Texas and a “seasoned pro-choice activist,” is being tried for charges of vandalism and terroristic threats after the protest that occurred outside of the Texas Supreme Court on June 1, 2024.
The events that transpired that Saturday were all caught on livestream by a well known social media influencer by the name of Carmen Bellair, where she openly advocates her support for Miner’s words. “I thought Lulu’s words were a little heated, but I totally stood by them. I wouldn’t have streamed them if I hadn’t.” The stream had reached a peak of 52.3 thousand viewers before the protest was forcefully shut down by the city of Austin police department. Prior to the end of the live stream, Miner is heard directly addressing Bellair and viewers, where she states “Screw this failure of a country, the negligence of our government shows its inability to serve the people that trusted them to protect their rights. I will not rest until every single one of these fascists that run Texas eat dirt.” Shortly after this, Miner was taken into custody.
According to 18 U.S.C. § 2331, domestic terrorism involves acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or any State. The State of Texas argues Miner is in violation as such.
The prosecution claims, “It's not a matter of politics, but a matter of destruction and direct violence.”
During the defense's closing statements, verdicts of a previous case similar to Miner’s were referred to in her defense. The Supreme Court in Johnson v. Texas (1989) held that burning the American flag constitutes protected speech under the First Amendment.
The defense concluded, “She fought for what she believed in, what's more American than that?”