In Ireland, I've seen police arrest people for attending a political demonstration. In the past (roughly 7-15 years ago), I've witnessed enough people getting a

In Ireland, I've seen police arrest people for attending a political demonstration. In the past (roughly 7-15 years ago), I've witnessed enough people getting arrested simply because they sat on the ground as part of a group (I've always thought the ad-hoc spontaneous sit-down is a terrible idea). Later, the charges were dropped or the police perjured themselves in court to try and secure a conviction. If the defendant was lucky, the arrest (or surrounding events) was caught on camera and the police were shown to be lying. Otherwise, police testimony is usually enough to convict a protester. From what I read, the situation isn't any better in the US.