SLO DA files misdemeanor charges against Tianna Arata
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- The San Luis Obispo County District Attorney's Office has filed misdemeanor charges against protest organizer Tianna Arata.
The District Attorney's Office confirmed the charges to our newsroom Wednesday evening. Arata is being charged with 13 misdemeanors including one count of unlawful assembly, one count of disturbing the peace, six counts of obstruction of a thoroughfare, and five counts of false imprisonment.
The San Luis Obispo County District Attorney's Office has filed misdemeanor charges against Black Lives Matter protest organizer Tianna Arata
The DA's Office said it has also filed a felony charge along with misdemeanors against Elias Bautista, 22.
Both Arata, 20, and Bautista participated in a Black Lives Matter protest on July 21. The protest entered Highway 101 and stopped traffic in both directions at the Osos on and off-ramps.
According to San Luis Obispo police, while on Highway 101, some protesters damaged the hood of a car and shattered a rear window, causing glass to break onto a 4-year-old child sitting in the back seat.
Tianna Arata, identified as the organizer of the protest, had reportedly assured police prior to the gathering that it would remain peaceful. She was arrested during the march and faced a number of possible charges.
Elias Bautista has been been charged with a felony for resisting arrest.
Police claimed that an officer was assaulted by another protester while Arata was being arrested. That protester was later identified as Bautista. Bautista was immediately arrested by police. Bautista faces a felony charge for resisting arrest by force and two misdemeanor counts of resisting a peace officer.
The impending charges led to days of protests calling for charges against Arata to be dropped.
Arata and Bautista are scheduled to be arraigned in court Thursday morning at the San Luis Obispo County Superior Court.
