New Era Cleveland leaders acquitted in extortion trial—Axios Cleveland
A Cuyahoga County jury this week acquitted Antoine “Fahiem” Tolbert and two fellow members of the grassroots activist organization New Era Cleveland on a slew of felony charges. … The resounding not guilty verdict closes out a lengthy trial that sparked citywide debate over race, activism, and the right to self-police.
Throughout the trial, the defense managed to discredit the prosecution’s key witnesses and expose negligent police work.
- One of the more cinematic developments concerned a gunshot that rang out during the 2024 gas station incident, which prosecutors had pinned on New Era.
- But witness testimony and police bodycam footage suggested it was one of the gas station owners — not a New Era activist — who fired the shot. . . .
. . . Defense attorney Peter Pattakos called the trial “one of the most farcical and unconstitutional prosecutions in American history” in a Facebook post.
“As regrettable as it is when police and prosecutors fail to fulfill their most basic duties,” [Pattakos said,] “it’s a genuinely glorious sight when 12 citizens pulled off the street apply basic common sense to deliver swift justice to remedy these failures.”
