An Arizona prosecutor who charged protestors as if they were gang members was fired and has now had her license suspended. Former Maricopa County Attorney's Office's April Sponsel worked with Phoenix police to bring bogus charges against more than 40 BLM demonstrators in 2020, all of which were later dismissed.
"Ms. Sponsel violated duties owed to her client, to the members of the public, to the legal system, and to the profession," according to a decision written by Presiding Disciplinary Judge Margaret Downie.
The judge continued, "Ms. Sponsel's misconduct had far-reaching, deleterious consequences."
Here's the decision as a PDF. The whole thing unraveled as soon as local media figured it out. If it sounds like she's an authoritarian type who thinks that any sort of organized dissent by Those People is a "gang," note that ABC News 15 says she made up evidence, too. So while she says she did nothing wrong, she certainly knew what she was doing.
40 fake felony cases! I was wondering which insurer is dumb enough to provide liability coverage for Maricopa County but at this point the answer seems to be "taxpayers."
Previously: Court strikes down Arizona's law banning filming of police
