Today, a new sun rises - despite the rain in West Chester.
As has been reported at MidnightBlue and other blogs, John Meicht faced several charges - Simple Assault, Resisting Arrest, REAP, Disorderly Conduct, and Harassment stemming from the incident that occurred on March 22, 2008.
These are serious charges, coupled with my video evidence and eye witness accounts of the assault myself and the police officer would have had a detrimental effect on future of John Meicht. It would have been easy to dig my heels in and press for a trial as the evidence would support a conviction of John Meicht. With the strong recommendation of his attorney and to avoid a harsher sentence, John Meicht entered into to a summary agreement. The specifics of this agreement include community service, maximum fines, stay away order (from Me), and a written apology to me by John Meicht.
I believe that justice was served in this case. This case was a civic lesson of how one group can resolve a difficult situation without creating more animosity. Today, I set the example of forgiveness, peace and freedom of speech between our two groups and I hope they were paying attention. On a serious note, I want to send the message that physical violence of any degree will never be tolerated at any rally. We can have opposing viewpoints, we can even get angry at another person's viewpoint - this is NEVER a valid excuse to lash out violently.
I want to thank those who came out to support me today in West Chester: Sean, Kevin, Janet, Rich, Sharon, and Creighton.
I hope the good faith agreement of separation will continue for the best interest of both sides, and more importantly the interest of the public.
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