Charges Dismissed Against Lt. Dan Choi

A Superior Court judge in DC has dismissed the charges against Lt. Dan Choi, relating to his participation in a 2011 White House demonstration against the Keystone XL Pipeline.

According to an email update from Choi on Thursday:

After one and a half years of criminal trial looming over my head, a totally unconstitutional “stay away” restraining order from the 1600 Pennsylvania Ave (The White House) and too many friends telling me not to fight back, the Judge dismissed the case. Forever.

Judge Juliet McKenna, Associate Judge of DC Superior Court sternly rebuked the prosecution and the many prosecutors in the audience that such sloppy mistakes and unjust outcomes are unacceptable. (Prosecutors contend it was a sloppy mistake and hide behind the different research methods they use to target certain defendants and not others….

Choi’s attorneys successfully argued that his arrest was an example of selective prosecution: Out of 1,253 protestors at the pipeline demonstration, he was one of only a few targeted for trial and jail time.

While Choi’s been cleared in this case, he still has other legal headaches to face: In 2010 he was arrested at the White House for protesting Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. And, in May 2011, he was among a number of international activists arrested by Moscow police when they defied a ban on having a Pride celebration.