Lawyers: Police Wrongly Arrested Some On Inauguration Day

WASHINGTON (AP) — Some innocent observers, including two journalists, were improperly swept up in a group of 230 people arrested after self-described anti-capitalists began breaking windows in Washington on Inauguration Day, lawyers said. Protesters smashed the windows of an emergency vehicle as well as windows at a Starbucks and two banks and set fire to a limousine, court documents said. City law says that if, in the course of a riot, a person is seriously injured or there is property damage of more than $5,000 "every person who willfully incited or urged others to engage in the riot" can be charged with felony rioting. Light says he believes felony charges were an attempt by prosecutors to get leverage for plea bargains on lesser, misdemeanor offenses. According to a review of court paperwork by The Associated Press, the average age of those arrested Friday was 27, though three were over 55.