SAN DIEGO — Two men were convicted Friday of conspiracy to commit a riot stemming from a 2021 Pacific Beach protest that turned violent, with prosecutors alleging the men joined other self-identified anti-fascists with plans to violently attack those on the opposite side of the political spectrum.
Brian Cortez Lightfoot, 27, and Jeremy Jonathan White, 41, both from the Los Angeles area, were prosecuted along with nine others in connection with the Jan. 9, 2021, "Patriot March" that devolved into brawls and violence.
Lightfoot was additionally convicted by jurors of five counts of unlawful use of tear gas. The jury, which began their deliberations more than a week ago, also acquitted the men on one assault count each, but hung on numerous other counts of assault and unlawful use of tear gas.
Lightfoot and White are slated for sentencing late next month. Their nine co-defendants pleaded guilty to various charges prior to the trial and some have already been sentenced to prison.
The San Diego County District Attorney's Office did not say whether it planned to re-try the men on the counts where jurors could not reach verdicts.
In a statement, San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan said, "We want to thank the jury for their service and for reaching their just guilty verdicts on the two remaining defendants in the Antifa conspiracy case. This was a complex case with 11 defendants indicted and now all convicted -- nine by guilty pleas and two by jury verdict. The DA team worked tirelessly on this case in order to be sure our community remains safe, and that the rule of law is followed."
Prosecutors alleged the men and their co-defendants sought to take violent action against conservative Patriot March attendees, and proceeded to pepper spray, beat and use Tasers on various people.
In arguing that a conspiracy to commit violence existed, Deputy District Attorney Makenzie Harvey told jurors to take note of the prevalence of all-black tactical gear among the defendants -- termed "black bloc" in protester parlance -- and that they arrived in San Diego armed with weapons such as baseball bats, pepper spray and Tasers.
Defense attorneys argued their clients reacted in self-defense to threats of violence from armed members of the right-wing contingent, some of whom their clients believed were members of far-right extremist groups known to engage in violence at protests.
Lightfoot's attorney, John Hamasaki, argued to jurors that in each incident he was charged with, Lightfoot observed something that he reasonably believed would result in violence against anti-fascists, including people who were armed and prepared to use their weapons while bearing neo-Nazi tattoos or clothes featuring extremist insignia.
White's attorney, Curtis Briggs, said his client observed similar indications among the right-wing crowd and had no plans to commit violence. White's presence at the protest was in more of a medic capacity, according to Briggs.
Prior to trial, the defense criticized the District Attorney's Office for bringing charges solely against individuals on the anti-fascist side and argued that violence from right-wing Patriot March participants was ignored.
Briggs sought to have the San Diego County District Attorney's Office disqualified from prosecuting the case because he alleged Stephan's office has historically declined to prosecute members of far-right organizations who commit violence. Briggs' motion was ultimately denied by San Diego Superior Court Judge Daniel Goldstein, who presided over White and Lightfoot's trial.
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