Press Release: Trial for the Controversial New Year’s Day Arrest of Antonio Buehler Set for Thursday, October 23rd at Austin Municipal Court

Antonio Buehler, who was arrested after he stood up for a woman who he believed was being assaulted by two Austin police officers, will be in court Thursday to defend himself against a charge of Disregarding the Order of a Police Officer. The trial will take place at Austin Municipal Court courtroom #2A at 8:30 a.m., tomorrow morning. The jury trial is expected to take one to two days, with the city bringing officers Patrick Oborski and Robert Snider to testify against Buehler. The defense will bring several witnesses who will testify that Austin police officers illegally assaulted and arrested Buehler for exercising his First Amendment rights after those officers illegally assaulted and arrested a young woman for exercising her First Amendment rights during a DWI stop.

In addition to hearing testimony from witnesses who observed Buehler’s arrest, it is expected that attendees will be able to view the cell phone video taken by a bystander, the 7-Eleven surveillance video that was released earlier this week, as well as the video and associated audio from both Patrick Oborski’s and Robert Snider’s dash cameras.

“I’m thrilled that my lawyer Millie Thompson has been able to force the hand of the City of Austin so that I can finally get my day in court,” Buehler said. He went on to say, “Chief Art Acevedo and the Austin Police Department have expended considerable effort covering up the crimes of their officers for nearly three years, slandering and retaliating against me and the other victim in the process, instead of simply holding their police officers accountable for their crimes. It’s about time that the media and the public will finally be exposed to the unabashed corruption and misconduct that Art Acevedo and his underlings have engaged in.”

Buehler’s attorney Millie Thompson said, “Across the country, citizens now wonder if police officers should wear video equipment attached to their uniforms. Luckily in Antonio Buehler’s case, we have four different video recordings of the January 1, 2012 events: One from a bystander, two from the officers’ vehicles, and one surveillance video. We are excited that a jury will weigh the independent witnesses’ testimony with the video evidence against the officers’ tales to fully, finally, and fairly decide this case. ”

Antonio Buehler is an entrepreneur in the education space, a West Point, Stanford and Harvard graduate, and the founder of the police accountability activist group, the Peaceful Streets Project. Buehler currently has a pending Federal Civil Rights lawsuit against the City of Austin as well as several Austin Police officers, including Patrick Oborski and Robert Snider.