Miriani

Shots Fired at Jupiter Rally

The Hale Security Force was plunged into controversy yesterday after security officers fired upon multiple protestors and imprisoned them on suspicion of terrorism. The rally was held by civilians who contested the Hale's right to govern their planet. Jupiter, a planet in the Ono system, and former territory of the Confederation of Terran Nations (CTN), still holds some patriotic sentiment to the defunct alliance. Protestors were marching peacefully in the city core in a designated demonstration area. While the immediate deployment of riot police on all sides of the protest was controversial enough, the shootings have caused a wave of outrage across the thirty sectors, from CTN activists and from civil rights advocates.

"It was totally unexpected. Completely out of the blue. We were walking along the route which we had cleared with the Security Force and we had every right to be there. After about five minutes the riot police got out their stun rifles and started shooting at us. There was absolutely no provocation," says eyewitness Julian Redd. Other protestors have echoed his story, citing that there was no hostile action taken by the protestors and that they were demonstrating peacefully.

On the other hand, the Hale Security Force claims that it "had every right" to detain the protestors. Thirty-two protestors are still in custody and six are being charged with conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism based on testimony from other activists.
"This is just ridiculous. There is no terrorist conspiracy here. The Hale are just looking for excuses to stop our voices from being heard," commented the imprisoned Alexander Trent, one of the six charged for terrorism. He denies claims by the Force that he intended to commit terrorism in any shape or form.

Ray Aurale, chief of the Ono branch of the Security Force, was unavailable for comment.

Dated: 07/25/2355