Update:
The assailant pleaded guilty in court this week:

A 61-year-old Maryland man pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault charges Wednesday for attacking three people as they posted anti-police-brutality fliers this summer along a bicycle trail in Bethesda.

The encounter, captured on video in one of the most affluent areas of the Washington region, exploded across the Internet at a time when Americans were taking to the streets in mass demonstrations after the killing of George Floyd. The suspect, Anthony Bernard Brennan, became an instant symbol of resistance to calls for police reform — a mantle his attorneys have long said was unfairly bestowed.

Brennan entered his plea to three counts of second-degree assault before Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Eric Johnson.

“The victims were basically afraid as the defendant was grabbing them,” prosecutor George Simms said during the hearing. “They didn’t know what more he would do.”

Brennan said little during the hearing other than answering standard yes-or-no questions designed to ensure that defendants want to plead guilty. At one point, he said “how truly sorry” he was over the incident.

Brennan is expected to be sentenced Feb. 2. Cases involving ­second-degree assault often yield a punishment of probation without jail time in Montgomery County.

Brennan had no previous criminal record, according to his attorney David Moyse. As part of an agreement with prosecutors, Brennan will not seek “probation before judgment,” a type of court resolution that strikes convictions from a defendant’s record.

“He has spent that last six months trying to atone for what he did,” Moyse said after the hearing.

Brennan has been free on $5,000 bond since his June 5 arrest.

On June 1, Brennan set out about noon for a bicycle ride from his home in Kensington, making his way to the Capital Crescent Trail, which has a popular biking stretch from Bethesda to the Georgetown area of Washington.

Finish reading the article here:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/bethesda-bike-trail-fliers-guilty-plea/2020/12/16/3d66a4aa-3f1d-11eb-8db8-395dedaaa036_story.html

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Someone found his home address and decided to take their friends to his house. They protested and tagged the house

That’s not protesting. It’s trespassing and vandalism.

Guess he should have thought about potential ramifications BEFORE he intentionally turned his bike around and targeted those young people. You don’t target people and get away with it, no matter who you THINK you are.

So, you support unlawful vigilante mobs?

What the hell do you call what he was doing??

Anonymous wrote:Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. The douchebag cyclist gets zero sympathy from me.

x100000

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Someone found his home address and decided to take their friends to his house. They protested and tagged the house

Good! Serves him right .

Hope this happens to you.

Anonymous wrote:Someone found his home address and decided to take their friends to his house. They protested and tagged the house

Then Karmic Justice is now balanced. He’s paid his debt, plus interest and penalties.

He can now rejoin society.




Right?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

“My dad is genuinely sick with remorse for his actions and the pain and fear he has caused,” wrote his son, JP Brennan. “He has his struggles that he has been working through for many years that sometimes overshadow the man he is, but trust me, the love is always there. He, like all of us, has work to do understanding racial injustices.”

His daughter, Meagan Brennan, said: “I am extremely hurt and upset for what he did. It was a very bad thing, but it does not define who he is.”

I feel terrible for his children. But, no, I don't trust you. You're not exactly objective--both because he's your father and because this reflects very pooly on your whole family. And it does actually define who he is, because he did it.

DP...And, 'love' is not enough. So many horrible things have been perpetuated and endured by loved ones. The statement from the DS tells me this isn't new behavior for Brennan. I doubt he would have done this to people who were bigger, older or black. Wonder how bad it was for his kids growing up.

I finally get why it is sad. He won’t have a chance for real happiness because he will spend all of his life trying to undo the conflict and turmoil that he normalized. This is so sad.

There’s such a contradiction for me in the love being there but the lack of understanding racial injustices.

Can you really have love for someone of another race without having an inherent understanding that their life is unlike yours via the multiple lenses of racial inequality.

Maybe his son is meaning his father has a love for people but a lack of understanding regarding racial injustices? Does it not cancel out the love part?

Somebody help me understand what I am missing here.

No expert here - but I think as humans we have to believe we are loved by our parents, even if they are monsters. We look for tiny indications to help build our self worth. The people that don’t have severe issues — and even the people that do. Narcissists build their entire identity off of a projection because they literally cannot look at their true self without shame and self-loathing.

The boy is speaking from what he knows. Doesn’t mean it is all wise and all knowing. He also alludes to this behavior being common in the household, even outside of race. It could be defensiveness and protection with trying to help others support or better understand his “source”.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

“My dad is genuinely sick with remorse for his actions and the pain and fear he has caused,” wrote his son, JP Brennan. “He has his struggles that he has been working through for many years that sometimes overshadow the man he is, but trust me, the love is always there. He, like all of us, has work to do understanding racial injustices.”

His daughter, Meagan Brennan, said: “I am extremely hurt and upset for what he did. It was a very bad thing, but it does not define who he is.”

I feel terrible for his children. But, no, I don't trust you. You're not exactly objective--both because he's your father and because this reflects very pooly on your whole family. And it does actually define who he is, because he did it.

DP...And, 'love' is not enough. So many horrible things have been perpetuated and endured by loved ones. The statement from the DS tells me this isn't new behavior for Brennan. I doubt he would have done this to people who were bigger, older or black. Wonder how bad it was for his kids growing up.

I finally get why it is sad. He won’t have a chance for real happiness because he will spend all of his life trying to undo the conflict and turmoil that he normalized. This is so sad.

There’s such a contradiction for me in the love being there but the lack of understanding racial injustices.

Can you really have love for someone of another race without having an inherent understanding that their life is unlike yours via the multiple lenses of racial inequality.

Maybe his son is meaning his father has a love for people but a lack of understanding regarding racial injustices? Does it not cancel out the love part?

Somebody help me understand what I am missing here.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

“My dad is genuinely sick with remorse for his actions and the pain and fear he has caused,” wrote his son, JP Brennan. “He has his struggles that he has been working through for many years that sometimes overshadow the man he is, but trust me, the love is always there. He, like all of us, has work to do understanding racial injustices.”

His daughter, Meagan Brennan, said: “I am extremely hurt and upset for what he did. It was a very bad thing, but it does not define who he is.”

I feel terrible for his children. But, no, I don't trust you. You're not exactly objective--both because he's your father and because this reflects very pooly on your whole family. And it does actually define who he is, because he did it.

DP...And, 'love' is not enough. So many horrible things have been perpetuated and endured by loved ones. The statement from the DS tells me this isn't new behavior for Brennan. I doubt he would have done this to people who were bigger, older or black. Wonder how bad it was for his kids growing up.

I finally get why it is sad. He won’t have a chance for real happiness because he will spend all of his life trying to undo the conflict and turmoil that he normalized. This is so sad.

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. The douchebag cyclist gets zero sympathy from me.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Someone found his home address and decided to take their friends to his house. They protested and tagged the house

That’s not protesting. It’s trespassing and vandalism.

Guess he should have thought about potential ramifications BEFORE he intentionally turned his bike around and targeted those young people. You don’t target people and get away with it, no matter who you THINK you are.

So, you support unlawful vigilante mobs?

Tagging someone’s house is a vigilante mob now? Remind me to arrest all the teenagers drunk on Halloween then.

It sounds like you have zero idea what tagging is... why don't you run and look it up and then come talk to the adults.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Someone found his home address and decided to take their friends to his house. They protested and tagged the house

That’s not protesting. It’s trespassing and vandalism.

Guess he should have thought about potential ramifications BEFORE he intentionally turned his bike around and targeted those young people. You don’t target people and get away with it, no matter who you THINK you are.

So, you support unlawful vigilante mobs?

Tagging someone’s house is a vigilante mob now? Remind me to arrest all the teenagers drunk on Halloween then.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Someone found his home address and decided to take their friends to his house. They protested and tagged the house

That’s not protesting. It’s trespassing and vandalism.

Guess he should have thought about potential ramifications BEFORE he intentionally turned his bike around and targeted those young people. You don’t target people and get away with it, no matter who you THINK you are.

So, you support unlawful vigilante mobs?

This is why we need the 2nd amendment.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hope this is the year when we all stop putting up with assho!es. Racists, bigots, rager cyclists, off leash dog walkers, and people with poor sidewalk etiquette.

I do NOT put racists and bigots in the same category as those others. Racism is not merely bad or uninformed behavior.

Well people are arguing someone who grabbed a woman’s arm and knocked a guy over should get 30 years, so why would now be the time anyone is keeping things in perspective and differentiating between gradations of misconduct/criminality?

Why are you so scared about a racist who assaulted someone, getting 30 years? Ask yourself that question - honestly.

This guy should get probation and a fine. Maybe a week or two in jail, but that's about it.

As long as that’s inline with what a black or brown person would get.

+1