Attorney: Lexington activist who was charged at protest had ‘faith in the jury system’

Sarah Williams, a racial justice activist who organized 2020 protests following the deaths of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, said she felt vindicated after a jury found her not guilty on all but one charge in a court case that stemmed from her arrest at a downtown Lexington demonstration.

Williams was arrested in the summer of 2020 and her court case was pending for two years. She was found not guilty of inciting a riot, resisting arrest and possession of marijuana. She was found guilty of second-degree disorderly conduct. The fifth charge, possession of drug paraphernalia, was dropped. Williams will have to pay a $200 fine for the disorderly conduct conviction.

“I am happy and relieved that it is over,” Williams said. “And that white supremacy and racism was held accountable for the way in which they lied and were silent, and stopped change for the better. It has been a long two years. It’s vindication in a lot of ways. My name has been through the mud.”

Her attorney, Daniel Whitley, said this verdict helped the community move towards the future, as County Attorney Larry Roberts, who was part of the prosecution in Williams’ case, was defeated in a primary election earlier this year.

“We elected Ms. Angela Evans and we decided as a community that we are going to take a new way of looking at crime,” Whitley said. “The entire time we have been fighting for Sarah Williams, we have been through a lot the last two years together. We were adamant that she was innocent. We did not plead guilty throughout the entire proceedings.

“I am very adamant about even thinking about pleading guilty. I just think the jury system actually works and it does work. We appreciate the efforts and hard work.”

Williams said she wasn’t surprised by the disorderly conduct conviction.

“We live in a society where anger from Black women is automatically determined unacceptable,” she said.

Whitley quoted the late Rep. John Lewis and said, “’Never be afraid to get in good trouble, and don’t worry about it.’”

“In this case, (Williams) exercised good trouble. She was loud on a microphone and they gave her a fine for that and we will take the fine all day long,” Whitley said. “We hope this tells young people that if you want to make a change in your community, face the phone. Make some good trouble.”

Whitley also represents other protesters who are facing charges stemming from the 2020 protests. He said he hopes Roberts dismisses charges against those individuals following this verdict.

“Those individuals are regular people who have jobs in the community who are risking jobs right now,” he said. “We hope those individuals will not be convicted and can have their jobs and go back to their children. In the end, we are all parents and what concerns us is what the future will have for our children.

“We all played our role and (Williams) faced going to prison to make sure our children have a better community and hopefully the jury lets those people go home.”

Williams said she experienced this herself, as she is waiting for her nursing license to be reinstated in the commonwealth.

Prosecutor: ‘It was a very good trial’

Roberts, the county attorney, said he was not upset about the verdict, and accepted it.

“I wish the other charges had been found guilty, but they didn’t and I can’t complain about this. It was a very good trial, and Daniel Whitley did an excellent job as her lawyer,” Roberts said. “I would say the jury gave a very, very good effort in this case and they paid a lot of attention.”

‘We are excited for the future’

Whitley and Williams also asked for more action from the Lexington Police Department and Police Chief Lawrence Weathers for a public apology after they accused Williams of having a crack pipe, which led to her drug paraphernalia charge. It was revealed in court testimony that after further observation, what police thought was a crack pipe was actually a broken vape cartridge.

“I think hopefully that they realize this ‘crack pipe’ – which we found to be the most offensive thing – we hope that Chief Weathers and the LPD will do the honorable thing and apologize to her,” Whitley said. “They are the ones that put that in the police report two years ago.

“That discredited her movement, that discredited her name and then we came to trial and the entire time we were adamant that she did not have a crack pipe.”

Whitley said, in addition the defense had a lot of other concerns regarding the marijuana charge that no evidence – other than police testimony – was presented as proof. Also, they had concerns with the misrepresentation in the rioting statute.

“We were not afraid to give this case to the people,” Whitley said. “I have faith in the jury system in Lexington, no matter what they say, (that it) is fair and balanced. And what we saw, from a predominantly white jury, was that they listened to our case and realized that is not the standard we have for policing, and that is not the standard we have for prosecuting.

“We are excited for the future.”

This story was originally published July 13, 2022 at 3:27 PM with the headline "Attorney: Lexington activist who was charged at protest had ‘faith in the jury system’."