The Municipality of Anchorage appears to want to make an example of activist Dustin Darden, who is involved in a legal action to recall the acting mayor. They’ve now arrested him twice for trespassing on public property.
On Tuesday, Darden was arrested and removed from an Assembly meeting, after shouting at the Assembly for its actions on emergency orders that have shut down commerce in Anchorage.
But then on Thursday, he was cited again for trespassing for an incident that happened on Monday.
On Dec. 7, Darden showed up at a joint meeting of school board and the Assembly at the Boniface Education Center. When he realized there was no meeting at that location, he left. The meeting had been moved to Zoom. On the ASD website, however, the meeting was noticed for the Boniface location.
It was Thursday when Anchorage police showed up at his workplace and issued him a notice of trespass for the Monday incident. The court file at this point says he remained on the property after being told to leave, but that is not his recollection of the events.
Darden frequently testifies at public meetings in Anchorage and is often passionate and loud in his testimony. His supporters say that he is expressing some of the anger that is felt by Anchorage residents who feel their government is oppressive.
He and David Nees on Thursday had filed a lawsuit to force the City Clerk to give them a recall petition so they can work toward recalling Acting Mayor Quinn-Davidson and Assembly member Kameron Perez-Verdia.
Darden has cited Alaska Statute 11.76.110, which makes it a Class A misdemeanor for someone to interfere with someone else’s constitutional rights.
AS 11.76.110 states: A person commits the crime of interference with constitutional rights if
(1) the person injures, oppresses, threatens, or intimidates another person with intent to deprive that person of a right, privilege, or immunity in fact granted by the constitution or laws of this state;
(2) the person intentionally injures, oppresses, threatens, or intimidates another person because that person has exercised or enjoyed a right, privilege, or immunity in fact granted by the constitution or laws of this state; or
(3) under color of law, ordinance, or regulation of this state or a municipality or other political subdivision of this state, the person intentionally deprives another of a right, privilege, or immunity in fact granted by the constitution or laws of this state.
(b) In a prosecution under this section, whether the injury, oppression, threat, intimidation, or deprivation concerns a right, privilege, or immunity granted by the constitution or laws of this state is a question of law.
(c) Interference with constitutional rights is a class A misdemeanor.
In a related incident, Must Read Alaska’s coverage of Darden’s initial arrest prompted Assembly member Chris Constant to accuse her of trying to have the Assembly killed.
Constant had been caught on hot mic saying that Darden needed to be thrown out of the meeting, and Assembly member Pete Petersen, also on hot mic, said Darden needs to be “86’d.”
