The Seattle grand jury resisters are a group of four anarchists who were imprisoned in 2012 for refusing to testify before a grand jury. The grand jury was investigating an incident during the May Day protests in Seattle in 2012, in which a courthouse was vandalized. None of the four were charged with any crime; however, they were held in prison for civil contempt of court in an attempt to force them to testify. The four were later released.
Background
During the Seattle May Day rallies of May 1, 2012, a group of approximately 75 black bloc protesters broke away from the main group and vandalized a number of stores, as well as the William Kenzo Nakamura United States Courthouse. About eight arrests were made that day, mostly for unrelated incidents.In late July, a number of houses in Portland, Olympia and Seattle were raided by the FBI. Anarchist literature, black clothing, computers and cellphones were seized. Dennison Williams, 33, and Leah-Lynn Plante, 24 were subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury. Dennison Williams issued a statement on behalf of them both, stating that they would not answer any questions except...