In early September, Edin Enamorado took to social media to ask his hundreds of thousands of followers to help him find a security guard who had attacked a group of street vendors in Pomona.
“We will hold him accountable,” Enamorado said in his livestreamed video from outside the Pomona police station, where he chastised police for not investigating the attack.
Several hours later, the security guard lay on the floor of El Super Market, beaten and pepper-sprayed by a group of activists allegedly led by Enamorado, according to the San Bernardino County district attorney's office.
Now Enamorado, who has portrayed himself on social media as the voice of underserved communities and the loudest critic among an army of activists who have publicly shamed law enforcement officials and racists, is behind bars, accused of committing a pattern of “ritualized harassment to make money.” notoriety,” according to prosecutors.
Enamorado, whose online videos have been viewed by millions of viewers, led a demonstration that blocked a police station and then heavily edited a video of an incident that followed to remove scenes that incriminated some of his fellow protesters, according to reports. prosecutors.
During a five-day preliminary hearing that ended Wednesday, videos of the various incidents were played, but law enforcement investigators were often unable to identify any named defendants who appeared in them.
After arguments were presented, Judge Zahara Arredondo ruled that charges of vandalism and use of tear gas against seven of the defendants would be dropped, but that the criminal process could continue with the remaining 15 charges.
In his ruling that the trial could continue, Arredondo said that a preliminary hearing is intended to show whether “a reasonable person could harbor a strong suspicion” of a defendant's guilt, and that he had found that there was evidence that the defendants They had carried out a conspiracy to commit violence.
“I hold each person responsible,” the judge said, referring to the conspiracy charge and the exclusion of one of the defendants.
He also called a video of an alleged victim making a forced apology to Enamorado while on his knees “humiliating” and “one of the most offensive things possible that can be done to a person.”
Still, Arredondo dropped all but one charge against Gullit Acevedo, 30. He still faces an assault charge, but the charge was upgraded from a felony to a misdemeanor.
The group led by Enamorado, referred to by its supporters as “the Justice 8,” openly criticizes the application of the law; Their lawyers have argued that they were exercising their First Amendment rights when the incidents occurred.
“Just because some people don't like your message doesn't make them criminals,” said defense attorney Dan Chambers. He added that the prosecution wants to present the protesters as a “walking mob.”
San Bernardino County Deputy District Attorney. Jason Wilkerson said the alleged conspiracy involved more than one incident and that the defendants could be guilty of conspiracy even if they were not present when all of the alleged crimes occurred.
“The actions of these groups, despite their message, tear at the fabric of society,” Wilkerson said, adding that they had conspired to engage in “preconceived vigilantism.”
The named defendants include Enamorado, Acevedo, Wendy Luján, 40; David Chavez, 28; Stephanie Amesquita, 33; Edwin Peña, 26 years old; Fernando López, 44; and Vanessa Carrasco, 40 years old. Only Acevedo has been released on bail. The others remain in police custody almost a month after his arrest.
The case remains under investigation and more people could be charged, according to prosecutors.
The group's alleged tactics — surrounding vehicles during protests and using pepper spray offensively — were intended to intimidate people, prosecutors say.
Enamorado's attorney, Nicholas Rosenberg, accused the security guard, referred to in court documents as John Doe #1, of being a liar and a bully, saying the guard had attacked street vendors. Rosenberg said all of the alleged victims in the case “did not have clean hands” and had actively provoked the named defendants.
Just before the members reportedly chased the security guard into the El Super market, the group had protested in front of the home of a man who threw a bottle filled with an unknown liquid at protesters in front of the bus station. Pomona police. Witnesses said the bottle was full of urine, according to defense attorneys. It was reportedly unclear who the aggressor was in the incident and the man left the scene.
During one of Enamorado's live videos outside the police station, someone can be heard saying that they are going to the bottle thrower's house. Prosecutors say this moment was an example of the alleged conspiracy.
Between 10 and 20 people later found the man sitting in his car outside his home, about a mile from the police station. The man, referred to in court documents as John Doe #2, pleaded with the crowd not to hit him, according to prosecutors, and knelt while he was on his knees.
The threat of violence from Enamorado and other members of the group was clear, prosecutors said.
Another example of conspiracy, according to prosecutors, was when Enamorado received an Instagram message about the location of the Pomona security guard, which prosecutors said sparked violence and showed a pattern with other incidents.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys disagree over whether San Bernardino County should have jurisdiction over the incidents in Pomona, which is in Los Angeles County.
Prosecutors accuse the defendants of deploying similar tactics on Sept. 24 in Victorville, San Bernardino County.
The group organized a rally outside the Victorville Sheriff's Station to protest a San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy who punched a 16-year-old girl a day earlier during a fight at a high school football game. . The incident was captured on video and shared on social media by Enamorado.
Protesters blocked the entrance to the sheriff's station and surrounded a civilian vehicle driven by a deputy reporting for work. Law enforcement officials say they had to use the back entrance during the protest.
As protesters left the station and crossed in front of a car wash, a driver tried to drive through the crowd, according to video played in court.
Several protesters are seen standing in front of the vehicle, blocking it and inciting a confrontation with a male passenger in the car, according to prosecutors, who narrated the video and identified three of them as Amesquita, Luján and Carrasco.
The passenger jumps out of the car, hitting a protester with one of its doors; Defense attorneys have said he appears aggressive. A man identified by prosecutors as Enamordo pushes the man, referred to in court documents as John Doe #3. A protester identified as Peña hits him, while another, supposedly Chávez, sprays him with pepper gas. Another, identified as Acevedo, throws multiple punches at John Doe #3, but none land.
The fight ends when a passing San Bernardino County sheriff's patrol car flashes its lights and sounds its siren. As the protesters walk away from John Doe #3, a voice that prosecutors identified as Enamorado's is heard saying, “That's what he gets.”
Enamorado later posted an edited version of the video and claimed that the man had sexually assaulted Luján during the melee.
Prosecutors accuse Enamorado of editing the video multiple times to support his version of events and sensationalize the incidents. Days after the protest, Chávez told Enamorado that he was concerned about what the video showed, according to text messages cited.
“Hey bro, could you take the video down? He is incriminating me,” Chávez wrote in a text message that was presented to the court through a subpoena. Enamorado responded that Acevedo had also asked that the video be removed.
Prosecutors and investigators say each separate act, including showing up at the home of the group's intended target and the alleged threat of violence, are indicative of conspiracy.
Defense attorney Damon Alimouri disagrees.
“A crowd does not imply conspiracy,” Alimouri said, noting that there are eight people facing different charges.
“If it is illegal to protest, then they are guilty of conspiracy,” he said.
Some of the defendants did not deny being involved in fights during the protests. Enamorado was charged with felon in possession of a firearm. He acknowledged that he had posted a video on Instagram on Nov. 17 of himself shooting a gun at a shooting range.
He also admitted that he was involved in a fist fight with the security guard in Pomona.
Outside the courtroom, supporters gathered to offer their support to Enamorado and the other defendants.
Antelope Valley resident Kris Serrano, 38, who attended the hearing in support of the activists, said it seemed like law enforcement officials were painting Enamorado as a monster.
“There are many vulnerable people who do not have the opportunities that others have,” Serrano said. “[People] They are out there attacking vendors, harassing them, taking away the money and food that allows them to help their families. What are you supposed to do?
