Despite warnings, man to protest at Lynn courthouse

LYNN – First police charged his brother for assaulting a thief allegedly breaking into his truck.Now Ken McKay Jr., of Swampscott says police told him he risks being arrested and up to a $5,000 fine and or a year in prison for supporting his brother by holding a protest outside Lynn District Court.”You have people protesting military funerals, have people holding Ku Klux Klan rallies and, really, you’re going to prevent me from protesting something unjust?” Ken McKay Jr. said during a recent interview. “They are throwing anything and everything they can at us to stop us, and I’m just not going to let that happen.”Anthony McKay, 29, pleaded not guilty to a charge of aggravated assault and battery on Nov. 17 in Lynn District Court, after he broke the jaw of a man who was allegedly trying to break into his truck. The truck was parked outside of Anthony McKay’s home in Swampscott.Swampscott police also arrested and charged the alleged thief, Christian Johnson, 30, with carrying a dangerous weapon, disorderly conduct, attempt to commit a crime, possession of a knife over 2? inches and a subsequent offense of possession of a Class A substance.Judge Ellen Flatley ordered Johnson held without bail on Oct. 20 due to drug dependency and previous charges, according to court documents.Ken McKay Jr, said he planned to organize a protest outside Lynn District Court on Jan. 24, the scheduled date of his brother’s pre-trial hearing.He said he wanted to highlight an “unjust” charge against his brother. He also wanted to support proposed legislation that protects individuals “in any place that they have a right to be” from civil and criminal liability due to death or injuries to an assailant if the individual acted in self-defense.But when Kenneth McKay Jr. told Lynn Police about his plans to protest, he said that Capt. Chris Reddy told him that protesting “in or near” the courthouse violated Massachusetts law.Reddy cited Massachusetts General Law Chapter 268 Section 13A. The law states “Whoever, with the intent of interfering with, obstructing, or impeding the administration of justice, or with the intent of influencing any judge, juror, witness, or court officer, in the discharge of his duty, pickets or parades in or near a building housing a court of the commonwealth ?” can be sentenced to a fine of up to $5,000 and/or a year imprisonment.Ken McKay Jr. also said that Reddy told him he could not move across the street to City Hall.Now Ken McKay Jr. said it is his free speech that is being threatened.”They are essentially trying to squash it,” Ken McKay Jr. said. “I’m pretty sure that there being a law on the books that would limit anyone’s right to protest a particular issue or a particular place is a direct violation of the First Amendment in the Constitution.”Lynn Police Spokesperson Lt. Christopher Kelly deferred to the captain’s interpretation of the law.”Common sense would tell me, somewhere where you could be seen or heard by the courthouse,” would be considered “near,” as according to the statute, Kelly said.”I know this individual probably feels that the freedom of speech is being trampled on,” Kelly acknowledged. “But there are limits to freedom of speech – you can’t yell ?fire’ in a crowded movie theater – and the Mass. Legislature decided that Massachusetts courthouses should be above the fray of people trying to picket.”Lynn Assistant City Attorney James Lamanna said that testimony concerning a person’s guilt or innocence should be made in the courthouse during the trial, not outside the building.He said he has never seen protests outside of Lynn District Court during his 15 years working for the city.According to the policy of the Trial Court security department, individuals who protest are prohibited from occupying court property, in accordance with Massachusetts General Law 268, section 13 A, Joan Kenney, public information officer for the Supreme Judicial Court, wrote in an email.Asked in a phone conversation if the protesters