2 Plead Not Guilty in CSUN Debate Scuffle
Two of the five adult defendants charged in connection with last month’s protest at Cal State Northridge during a Proposition 209 debate pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges that they assaulted police officers and their horses, the city attorney’s office said.
Ex-Klansman David Duke’s participation in the Sept. 25 debate sparked the protest. Campus police and helmeted LAPD officers in riot gear used tear gas and rubber bullets to force back a crowd of more than 1,000. Five men and a juvenile were arrested.
The two defendants, Erik Wilson and Abel Correa, entered not-guilty pleas in Van Nuys Municipal Court, said Mike Qualls, a spokesman for the city attorney’s office.
The trial date for Wilson was set for Nov. 4. Correa’s trial is to start Dec. 12.
The other defendants, Edward Vasquez, Sergio Gutierrez and Michael McDougall, had their arraignments postponed until later this month, Qualls said.
Outside the courthouse, a handful of sign-carrying protesters, including Vasquez, chanted in support of those arrested during the debate.
Wilson, Vasquez, Gutierrez and McDougall have been charged with assault with a deadly weapon and causing injury to a police horse. Gutierrez was additionally charged with resisting arrest.
Correa was charged with one count of assault with a deadly weapon.
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