(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . That time Donald Trump was bound and gagged in court--wait, that was a Black Panther [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-04-03 Donald Trump, the former president and current godhead of the MAGA Insurrectionist Crybaby Party, is being persecuted in ways nobody has ever seen before for continuing to hurl invectives and accusations at prosecutors, judges, court personnel, and, for good measure, family members of prosecutors and judges involved in his many criminal and civil trials. How’s this for unfair? The New York judge overseeing Donald J. Trump’s criminal trial later this month expanded a gag order on Monday to bar the former president from attacking the judge’s family members, who in recent days have become the target of Mr. Trump’s abuse. In his ruling, the judge cited recent attacks against his daughter, and rejected Mr. Trump’s argument that his statements were “core political speech.” “This pattern of attacking family members of presiding jurists and attorneys assigned to his cases serves no legitimate purpose,” Justice Merchan wrote. “It merely injects fear in those assigned or called to participate in the proceedings, that not only they, but their family members as well, are ‘fair game’ for defendant’s vitriol.” Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel? Anyone can see from Merchan’s deranged screed that he is a Trump-hating, crooked judicial hack who is viciously punishing a well-meaning provider of hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels. And for what? Merely for exercising his First Amendment right to identify for the MAGA goon squad which people to target for death threats. This is not America! Within hours of Merchan’s expanded gag order being issued, Trump — to the surprise of no one — “responded by not-subtly gesturing at the same attacks,” the Washington Post reports. The former president is “flouting” this latest gag order, Aaron Blake writes, “in a way that reinforces just how much latitude he’s been given.” Exactly. And that’s the problem: As has happened throughout his joyless, Potemkin village life, Trump continues to suffer no serious consequences for his egregious behavior. (I know, the civil cases. But let’s see how they play out before we start celebrating.) Contrast Trump’s treatment by the judicial system with the treatment of Black Panther leader Bobby Seale in 1969. Seale was convicted of criminal contempt during the trial of “Chicago 8” defendants accused of fomenting unrest in the streets of that Midwest city during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. From the archives of the Chicago Sun-Times: Black Panther leader Bobby G. Seale was found guilty of criminal contempt Wednesday at the Conspiracy 8 trial. U.S. District Judge Julius J. Hoffman was interrupted by Seale’s shouts of “That’s a lie!” as he read a list of the alleged offenses. The maximum sentence without a jury trial is six months for each criminal contempt offense. In reading a list of the contempt charges, Hoffman said he was citing “only the most flagrant.” Hoffman said the first incident occurred Sept. 26 — two days after the trial’s start — when Seale called him “a blatant racist.” Sound familiar? Hoffman said the Black Panther’s courtroom activities were a “deliberate and willful attack upon the administration of justice in an attempt to sabotage the functioning of the federal judicial system.” “That’s a lie,” shouted Seale. “You’re making it very difficult for me, Mr. Seale,” Hoffman said. “You’re making it difficult for me, Judge Hoffman,” Seale replied. I recall hearing a similar courtroom exchange earlier this year… Judge Lewis Kaplan: Mr. Trump has the right to be present here. That right can be forfeited, and it can be forfeited if he is disruptive, which is what has been reported to me. Mr. Trump, I hope I don’t have to consider excluding you from the trial. I understand you are probably very eager for me to do that. Trump (throwing up his hands like a surly teenager): I would love it. I would love it. Kaplan: I know you would. I know you would. You just can’t control yourself in this circumstance, apparently. Trump: You can’t either. Seale also called the trial “a complete, overt, fascist operation.” Again, sound like a defendant we know? Whenever protesters tried to disrupt his MAGA rallies in 2016, Trump would fondly recall the “good old days” when law enforcement and law-abiding patriots knew how to deal with troublemakers. So how was Bobby Seale dealt with by Judge Hoffman? “Seale was gagged and bound to a chair for two and a half days last week after he tussled with the courtroom marshals,” the Sun-Times reported. Explaining his decision to have Seale physically constrained, Hoffman said, “While a defendant in a criminal case has an absolute right to be present during his trial, he does not have the right to brazenly make a shambles of the criminal judicial process and attempt to force a mistrial.” Unless, apparently, that defendant is a wealthy white man who has enjoyed a free pass for reprehensible behavior throughout his entire life. Trump has gotten away with relentless attacks in social media on judges, prosecutors, court workers, and family members of these judicial professionals, along with disruptive behavior in court (muttering, gesturing loudly, storming out, etc.). So we’re probably not going to see the Lunatic King bound and gagged in court, no matter how abusive or disrespectful he becomes. Because Trump’s right about one thing: There are two tiers of justice in this country. (From Project Orange: Saving Democracy From the Trump-MAGA Cult) [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/4/3/2233148/-That-time-Donald-Trump-was-bound-and-gagged-in-court-wait-that-was-a-Black-Panther?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/