22-Person Trial Set In NYC Police Protest Arrests

A demonstrator is arrested outside of the Wells Fargo shareholders meeting in San Francisco, Tuesday, April 24, 2012. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Nearly two dozen demonstrators who criticized police for stopping and frisking people on New York City streets are gearing up to go to trial.

Twenty-two people arrested at an October protest outside a police station are due to go on trial Monday. It stands to be one of the city’s biggest political protest trials in recent years, at least in terms of sheer numbers.

The group includes Princeton University professor and civil rights activist Cornel West.

Police say the demonstrators blocked the sidewalk and the entrance to the station and ignored orders to leave. Defense attorneys plan to argue the demonstrators’ cause justified their conduct, among other defenses.

Police conducted more than 684,000 street stops last year. Police say the stops are crucial for fighting crime. Critics call them unfair.