Updated: 8:20 a.m., Tuesday, June 2, 2020
Wearing masks and speaking to jailed defendants by videoconference, judges on Monday began hearing the cases of the dozens of people arrested during the weekend’s demonstrations in Downtown Cleveland.
Defendants face charges including aggravated riot, breaking and entering and failure to comply with a police officer’s orders. Most of those arraigned Monday received personal bonds, allowing them to leave jail without putting down any money.
Police blamed people from outside the Cleveland area, and even out of state, for some of Saturday’s chaos. But nearly all of those arraigned Monday listed addresses in Northeast Ohio, including in Cleveland, Cleveland Heights, Westlake, Avon, Elyria, Mentor and Ashtabula.
Of the 120 people booked into the Cuyahoga County jail for any offenses over the weekend, none listed addresses in cities outside Ohio, according to a roster provided by the county.
Authorities booked 45 people into the jail on aggravated riot charges over the weekend, according to the roster. Of those, 21 were from Cleveland, 14 were from suburbs in Cuyahoga County, 9 from other Northeast Ohio counties and 1 from Columbus.
While most felony defendants were free to go as a grand jury reviewed their cases, Cleveland Municipal Judge Michelle Earley set a $5,000 bond for one defendant accused of breaking a window with a bicycle.
Earley told defendants she would give them paperwork allowing them to travel through the city’s curfew zone on the way home.
A prosecutor in the courtroom Monday asked to keep the phones of those charged with felonies, saying investigators would execute search warrants on the devices.
The Cuyahoga County Justice Center was surrounded with metal fencing on Monday. [Nick Castele / ideastream]
Mayor Frank Jackson’s office Sunday said police arrested 66 people, including a juvenile, during and after the protests downtown. On Monday, Cuyahoga County spokeswoman Mary Louise Madigan said Sheriff David Schilling had now tallied 99 arrests.
The neighborhood around the Justice Center, deep inside Cleveland’s curfew zone, was quiet Monday afternoon. Metal fencing protected the Justice Center’s entrances. The building’s broken windows were covered with boards, and workers cleaned graffiti from statues in the park across the street.
City and county courts remain largely closed Tuesday, open only to essential personnel, according to a news release. Most scheduled events are canceled except for jail arraignments.
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