Biography
Jasmine Richards is widely described in U.S. reporting as a local organizer associated with Black Lives Matter in Pasadena. Coverage situates her activism in protests and public organizing against police violence and in sustained criticism of police actions in Pasadena, helping make her arrest and prosecution a cause célèbre for some supporters and a flashpoint in local debates about protest policing.
Her arrest arose from an August 2015 incident at La Pintoresca Park after a march: prosecutors alleged she attempted to interfere with officers taking a woman into custody, and she was later prosecuted under California’s then-termed felony “lynching” statute (a technical term for attempting to remove someone from lawful police custody by means of a riot), along with other alleged offenses during earlier charging stages. A jury convicted Richards in June 2016, and she was sentenced later that month to 90 days in jail and probation (with additional conditions reported by local outlets).
