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Lochte’s Dancing with the Stars Protestors Charged with Misdemeanor

The two men who rushed the stage during Ryan Lochte‘s Dancing with the Stars performance earlier this month have been charged with two counts of misdemeanor.

Yesterday, the Los Angeles city attorney’s office filed criminal complaints against 59-year-old Sam Sotoodeh and 25-year-old Barzeen Soroudi for both entering the stage and interrupting the performance.

According to the Associated Press, each could face a penalty of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. Arraignment will be October 4th.

The protestors, wearing white shirts reading “Lochte” and slashed through in red, ran on stage during the feedback portion of Lochte’s performance on September 12th.

Others in the audience wearing shirts matching the protestors chanted “liar,” while Lochte was on stage and were eventually escorted out.

The protestors were upset over the incident in Rio during the Olympics in which Lochte and three of his American teammates urinated on a gas station bathroom and Lochte tore down a sign, telling reporters the next day that he was robbed at gunpoint.

Sotoodeh told ABC News that he and Soroudi were trying to “get the message out that Lochte is a coward, a liar, and under Brazilian law, a criminal.

According to the Associated Press, each could face a penalty of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. Arraignment will be October 4th.

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aussie crawl
8 years ago

We all know he is a “tool” so…… lets move forward.
He aint worth getting arrested for protesting.

non
8 years ago

no way should these guys get a harsher penalty than lochte. by the way, what was lochte’s penalty?

Joel Lin
8 years ago

This is taking too much attention away from Vanilla Ice.

aussie crawl
Reply to  Joel Lin
8 years ago

Mate love that comment bahahaha

ERVINFORTHEWIN
Reply to  aussie crawl
8 years ago

LOLLLL

FL Swim Mom
8 years ago

I understand Ryan made mistakes. But I’m not throwing stones, as we’ve all made mistakes. I just want to say Ryan was always a really nice guy at meets – kind and accessible – allowing younger swimmers to take photos with him and so forth.

G.I.N.A
8 years ago

They should have been shot d**d & then deported .

mcmflyguy
Reply to  G.I.N.A
8 years ago

well that escalated quickly

Hank
8 years ago

Lochte should surrender to Brazilian authorities. Brazilian swimming confederation has their share of legal troubles too.

Billabong
Reply to  Hank
8 years ago

So the Brazilians will be brought to justice, whilst Lochte remains an international fugitive. Even Dubbya would be scratching his head on this one.

Jon
Reply to  Billabong
8 years ago

They aren’t Brazilian.

Lol! How is Lochte an international fugitive? He was never ordered to stay in Brazil, and he hasn’t been ordered to return.

Billabong
Reply to  Jon
8 years ago

He has been indicted in Brazil. If he ever sets foot in that country again, he will be arrested and tried. The Brazilians have not yet prepared an extradition warrant against him. They may well just wait until he visits another country with a more sympathetic extradition treaty to bring him to justice. My advice to RL, is to stay in the USA…..Land of the Free, Home of the Brave(or in his case, not so brave)

Jon
Reply to  Billabong
8 years ago

You make it sound like he robbed someone. No. The reason Brazilian authorities haven’t asked for extradition is because a) it’s a minor crime and not an extraditable offense under their treaty with the U.S. and b) they’ve stated that he can be deposed in the U.S. and it is ok for him to send his attorney in his place.

No civilized county on earth is going to extradite someone for such a minor offense. And Brazil is one of the few countries that bars own nationals from extradition. They would look absolutely moronic and hypocritical if they requested extradition.

swimswammerswummer
Reply to  Billabong
8 years ago

He was never indicted. That was one of the many pieces of information that was reported as fact despite being not true.

Uberfan
8 years ago

Also they should be banned from all dancing with the Stars events for 10 months or 4 maybe 6 if they were drunk

Micah
8 years ago

I hope we hold their passports and extort money from them before deporting.

Joe Bagodonuts
Reply to  Micah
8 years ago

Why do you assume that they are in the U.S. on passports?

CROOKED HILLARY
Reply to  Joe Bagodonuts
8 years ago

Good catch. We have open boarders so no passports needed.

About Braden Keith

Braden Keith

Braden Keith is the Editor-in-Chief and a co-founder/co-owner of SwimSwam.com. He first got his feet wet by building The Swimmers' Circle beginning in January 2010, and now comes to SwimSwam to use that experience and help build a new leader in the sport of swimming. Aside from his life on the InterWet, …

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