A new thirst for activism for acquitted Iowa City protester

Editor’s note: A reference to a protester charged Dec. 11 has been changed from the original publication. (Note published 3/18, 8:00 a.m.)

This column has been revised to remove a sentence involving pronoun usage following a review of the author’s past practices. (Note published 3/22, 8:45 a.m.)

A distant relative of mine recently posted an update on social media about her husband’s recent health scare when they were driving. While stopped at an intersection, he suddenly turned to her and said, “I think I’m having a heart attack.” They turned at the intersection and raced to the hospital just blocks away, where the heart attack was confirmed and treatment started immediately.

A lot of things can impact the time it takes to travel even a short distance. Most of those things — weather, the timing of stoplights and the number of cars on the road — aren’t anything we can control. But with each second after a heart attack crucial to the difference between living and dying, one facing a medical emergency could find themselves in a real pickle if their path to the hospital is blocked by something completely avoidable and unnecessary, such as demonstrators blocking traffic as a means of protesting something.

One such protester went on trial last week in Iowa City. Tara Dutcher, also known as Tara McGovern, a fiddle performer and community theatre worker was charged with one count of disorderly conduct and one count of interference with official acts for alleged actions at a protest outside the Iowa Memorial Union at the University of Iowa on Oct. 16. The protest followed an appearance by Chloe Cole, a 19-year-old activist who opposes gender-affirming treatments for minors. Cole, hosted by the UI chapter of Young Americans for Freedom, spoke that night about her own gender dysphoria treatment, which included puberty blockers, testosterone and a mastectomy all before she turned 16.

Dutcher was part of a large group of protesters who arrived at the intersection of Jefferson and Madison Streets right outside the IMU shortly before the conclusion of Cole’s speech (at which I was in attendance) and began circling the pedestrian crosswalk while waving signs and flags and chanting slogans.

That blocked the intersection — the only route for cars to leave the area around the IMU — to all vehicle traffic, resulting in as many as 20-30 cars stuck on Madison St, University of Iowa Police Detective Adam Herrig testified on Tuesday. A number of cars were also trapped in the IMU parking ramp.

The blockage of the intersection lasted about 20 minutes, during which time UI Police Lieutenant Travis Tyrell testified he “came up with a plan” to open up a single lane of traffic among the protesters for vehicles to exit the area going east on Jefferson Street. Most were able to painstakingly move through while the protest continued around them, though some protesters locked arms at one point trying to continue to stop vehicles.

For alleged actions at the Oct. 16 scene, Dutcher was one of six people charged with disorderly conduct — obstructing a street, sidewalk or highway, a serious misdemeanor punishable by no more than one year in jail and a maximum fine of $2560; and interference with official acts, a simple misdemeanor. Five of those six people cut a deal with the county attorney and plead guilty to the lesser charge in exchange for a deferred judgment and a dismissal of the more severe disorderly conduct charge.

On Dec. 11, a seventh protester was charged with one count — the serious misdemeanor the others faced. Notably, that charge was filed only after the protester was arrested and charged over a separate incident at Kinnick Stadium, during which the protester and others are accused of chaining themselves to a door as part of an apparent pro-Palestine protest to prevent university officials from entering for a meeting, allegedly causing thousands of dollars’ worth of damage to the doors.

Dutcher’s trial began Tuesday at the Johnson County Courthouse. Apparently not content to make the case to a jury of the alleged crimes, Dutcher seemed to spend as much time before trial trying to demonstrate that protesters charged were victims, alleging that the seven people charged after the Oct. 16 protest were each charged because they are transgender. Dutcher identifies as nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns,* but curiously seems to interchange “trans” and “nonbinary.”

McGovern also has claimed being targeted by UIPD officers and Johnson County Attorney Rachel Zimmerman-Smith due to previous activism in 2021 opposing Iowa City and Johnson County’s use of Mine Resistant Ambush Protection (MRAP) tactical vehicles. UIPD Det. Ian Mallory testified that although Dutcher was in none of the police reports initially made after the Oct. 16 protest, he recognized the defendant while looking through footage of the events with County Attorney Zimmerman-Smith as someone whose social media accounts he had viewed in 2021.

But police and prosecutors need probable cause to investigate, arrest and charge. Dutcher’s claim of retaliatory prosecution doesn’t acknowledge that District Associate Judge Jason Burns also signed off on the case, finding that enough evidence was available to prosecute. Judge Burns was hardly unfair — he was gentle and accommodating to the dozens of supporters from Dutcher’s “community” of activists and artists, even after it was discovered that someone had written a message in a bathroom stall that could be deemed as potentially influencing the jury. A less patient judge might have closed the proceedings to the public.

Dutcher’s pretrial campaign to prove victimhood reached far. Dutcher utilized any press outlet that would tell the story, including the Washington Post, which ran a story last Sunday headlined, “Transgender activist risks jail to challenge new law targeting protest,” referring to 2021 legislation that made intentionally blocking streets a more severe crime. Dutcher ran a website dedicated to the “JoCo7,” which still is accepting donations to cover legal fees. Over $16,000 of the fund’s $20,000 goal has been raised with the promise that leftover funds will support the protesters arrested at Kinnick on Dec. 9.

Some pretrial actions raised eyebrows. The morning before the trial began, Dutcher made a post on social media asking followers if, “apropos of nothing,” they had talked to anyone about jury nullification.

“If you find yourself on a jury and you think the ‘crime’ is invalid, you can vote “not guilty” with absolutely no penalty to you,” wrote Dutcher. “If a case gets thrown out, the person can’t be retried. Your commitment to ethical justice can make a real difference.” The words written on the bathroom stall that led Judge Burns to caution against interfering in the jury process were “jury nullification.”

Other actions raised ire, including encouraging the Johnson County Democratic Central Committee to pass a resolution introduced by Johnson County Supervisor Jon Green denouncing Zimmerman-Smith and calling for her to drop all charges against all seven Oct. 16 protesters. Supervisor V Fixmer-Oraiz went as far as meeting with Zimmerman-Smith in person to ask her to drop the charges. Zimmerman-Smith’s budget is determined by the county Board of Supervisors on which Green and Fixmer-Oraiz are elected to serve.

The committee rejected the resolution by a vote of 13-34. Prior to voting, Johnson County Sheriff Brad Kunkel told the committee “ … what’s most troubling to me is the lengths that elected officials have gone through to exert influence on the judicial system is some of the most unethical behavior I’ve ever seen in local government.”

After all the pretrial drama (and a bit during the trial,) Dutcher was acquitted. Rightfully so — the state did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Dutcher’s actions met the specific elements the accused crimes. In a criminal court, anything short of that very high standard demands acquittal — one of the most beautiful things about our justice system.

Tara Dutcher isn’t a criminal. Protesters’ indifference is embarrassing, but it’s not illegal. It’s also not effective. Not if they want to inspire change and promote inclusion. Dutcher told the jury that blocking traffic that night was to “show that trans people exist.” But no one is going to have an epiphany about the gender noncomforming experience when the scene that confronts them with it is that of a sizable crowd of weirdos skipping around a busy intersection chanting, “ALL COPS ARE BAS-TARDS!” in singsong voices.

Dutcher has “no plans to protest again” at the University of Iowa and seems to have instead shifted to personal vengeance activism: Dutcher lashed out during public comment at the Mar. 14 Board of Supervisors meeting, naming every supervisor who “chose not to help me in any way.” Later that evening, Dutcher and other protesters (some of whom are still awaiting trial) held a press conference to share their vision for a more just community.

Their demands are on Dutcher’s website. They include “a countywide declaration of non-enforcement of current and future anti-trans laws, especially those that target trans youth” and “the dissolution of the University of Iowa Police Department.” (Good luck with that.) They also demand their protests be “free of law enforcement.”

If so, they should probably move those protests away from the University of Iowa. After being caught off guard by not expecting a protest “to the degree that it happened” on the night of Oct. 16, UI Police won’t risk that again. Frankly, that’s a bit reassuring to some of us.

Dutcher isn’t a victim. Instead, Dutcher is a self-involved performer spellbound by song and dance, yearning to be the face of a movement for justice and beauty. I just hope that whatever Dutcher and allies do next, they do without punishing those they deem intolerable. And if they don’t learn their lesson about blocking traffic in time for the next controversial speaker, let’s hope nobody has a medical emergency.

Comments: 319-398-8266; althea.cole@thegazette.com

An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the defendant indicated no further plans to protest in Iowa City, Iowa. The article has been corrected to reflect that the defendant was referring specifically to the University of Iowa campus, not the Iowa City area at large. The author regrets the error.