An Allegheny County judge Thursday dismissed all charges against a Wilkinsburg woman accused of resisting arrest and trespassing at a North Versailles movie theater in an incident last year that was captured in a viral video.
Melanie V. Carter, a hip-hop artist who performs under the name Blak Rapp Madusa, celebrated afterward with a crowd of supporters in the courtyard of the Allegheny County Courthouse, leading a chant, "When we fight, we win."
Ms. Carter said she was relieved that her court case is over and noted how proud she was of her legal team as well as the supporters she rallied.
Melanie Carter celebrates with supporters after all the criminal charges against her — stemming from the N. Versailles theater incident last year — were dismissed. pic.twitter.com/N2VOuTfpJa
— Paula Reed Ward (@PaulaReedWard) January 10, 2019
"Knowing there's more work to do, we had justice today," said Ms. Carter, who also works as an organizer on social justice issues.
Local activist Nicky Jo Dawson told the crowd: "This was obviously about protecting black women and what happens when you stand up for black women and black children.
"Clearly, black women are under attack. Black children are under attack. Black men are under attack. We always will have to remain vigilant."
Ms. Carter, 36, was arrested Feb. 24 at the North Versailles Stadium 18 Theater on Lincoln Highway on charges of defiant trespass, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest after she objected to how a group of girls inside the business were being treated by a manager and a police officer.
The manager believed the girls were being disruptive, fighting with each other and shouting.
Ms. Carter, who did not know them, asked Officer Christopher Kelly why he was taking them out, and he told her not to interfere.
A friend escorted Ms. Carter out of the building, but there was then a confrontation on the sidewalk outside — but not before Officer Kelly asked if she had a light.
When she said no, she began recording him on her cell phone.
In the 91-second video, which went viral after being posted on social media, Ms. Carter is seen arguing with Officer Kelly and a manager at the theater. She says that the manager called the girls “animals,” and the manager, Jason Bauer, steps up to the camera and says, “Yeah, because you’re behaving like an animal.”
Officer Kelly then asks Ms. Carter to leave, and she refuses. He almost immediately pulls out his handcuffs and moves to take her into custody.
During a hearing before Common Pleas Judge David R. Cashman, defense attorney Bret Grote argued that there was not sufficient evidence to sustain any of the charges against his client.
He told the court, which was packed with supporters, that using profanity is not a justification for disorderly conduct, and that Ms. Carter had paid admission and her children were still inside, which both entitled her to stay.
Judge Cashman immediately agreed with him on that point, saying, "She had a right to be there."
As for the last charge, Mr. Grote argued that to resist arrest, the initial arrest has to be lawful, which in Ms. Carter's case it was not.
Judge Cashman, who watched footage from inside the theater, as well as what Ms. Carter recorded, contemplated his decision for a brief time on the bench before announcing that he would grant the defense motion to dismiss all the charges.
The judge said that he believed the manager had the right to ask that the girls inside the theater be removed because they were causing a disturbance.
But as to Ms. Carter, he continued, "What happened thereafter was an unfortunate incident."
There was a tense moment after the judge announced his decision.
As the crowd emptied the courtroom into the hallway, a man made a loud sound in celebration.
Judge Cashman demanded the man be brought back by sheriff’s deputies, and he summoned Mr. Grote to the bench.
"This is not a circus," Judge Cashman railed. "You should have instructed them better. Learn case management."
Mr. Grote apologized, as did the man who was returned to the courtroom.
"How dumb are they?" Judge Cashman continued. "Tell them to get out of the building."
He allowed the man who made the noise to leave.
Before the hearing, Ms. Carter and more than a dozen of her supporters assembled before the press outside. Many planned to join her in the courtroom.
"We should not have to be here in this day and age," Ms. Dawson, the activist, said. "It's redundant at this point — that it's 2019 and we still have to fight for our right to be black or our right to stand up for children who are being discriminated against."
"I didn't know if I was going to survive that attack," Ms. Carter said at the gathering. "But I knew that if I did, that it was my duty to say something about it, to use my platform as an artivist [artist-activist] and an organizer and tell America to stop the violence against black women."
Paula Reed Ward: pward@post-gazette.com, 412-263-2620 or on Twitter @PaulaReedWard. Staff writer Adam Smeltz contributed.
First Published: January 10, 2019, 4:57 p.m.
