Malcolm Harris fought the law — and the law won.
The Occupy Wall Street protester arrested on the roadway of the Brooklyn Bridge in October 2011, who made prosecutors’ rights to gain access to published but deleted Twitter postings the center of his minor criminal charge, pleaded guilty this morning to disorderly conduct.
Harris was sentenced to six days community service at a private nonprofit if his choice. He faced a maximum of 15 days in jail.
He likely could still appeal the ruling and continue to argue against social media searches, a key argument throughout his case.
At the brief hearing in Manhattan Criminal Court, the tweet that brought the OWS protester to his knees was first revealed: “We took the bridge.”
Harris, joined by high-powered Twitter lawyers, lost a bid to keep his postings on the micro-blogging site private after the Manhattan District Attorney’s office subpoenaed the posts.
The judge ordered Twitter to turn them over to the DA — but they have not been revealed until this morning.
Protesters have argued that police led them onto the bridge in a setup to arrest them. The DA claims the tweets will show that the protesters knew they shouldn’t have been on the roadway.
Harris’ tweet seems to support the DA’s case, which could be why his defense fought long to keep prosecutors from getting them.
The DA issued a subpoena after the tweet had been purged from Twitter.
Courts have continually ruled against Twitter and Harris, and the tweets were eventually turned in as evidence.
Another tweet that was revealed this morning was equally incriminating: “they tried to stop us.”
gsloane@nypost.com