Joe.My.God. LGBT News
NBC New York reports:
A courthouse in upstate New York was closed for fumigation Tuesday after hundreds of cockroaches were released during an altercation that broke out at an arraignment, according to court officials.
The clash broke out during proceedings in Albany City Court for four people for an arrest at the state Capitol.
A defendant who started to film the courtroom proceedings was told to stop. In the altercation that followed, hundreds of cockroaches brought into the courthouse in plastic containers were released, according to the state court system.
The Albany Times-Union reports:
In court papers, police alleged that now-former $80,000-a-year Senate staffer Clyanna Lightbourn, 34, of Troy, played an integral role in the incident by causing a fracas that allowed conspirators to unleash the cockroaches.
It was apparently part of an unorthodox protest over the State Police arrests of demonstrators who were objecting to rent issues last month at the state Capitol.
The bugs, according to a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Conservation who consulted with insect experts, appeared to be Madagascar hissing cockroaches, which he said do not pose an environmental threat.
Lightbourn was charged with disorderly conduct, obstructing governmental administration, and tampering with physical evidence. There’s much more at the Times-Union link.
A courthouse in upstate New York was closed for fumigation Tuesday after hundreds of cockroaches were released during an altercation that broke out at an arraignment, according to court officialshttps://t.co/PN97Ek1qqj
— NBC New York (@NBCNewYork) June 8, 2022