Defendants John O’Hara and Ken Ward were scheduled to go on trial for using a lobster boat to block freighter loaded with 40,000 tons of coal that was bound for the Brayton Point Power Station in Somerset. It’s a charge the climate activists do not deny. They would argue that the threat of global warming is so great, the two men had to act.

That’s unusual enough. But then the bigger surprise came when Bristol County District Attorney Sam Sutter dropped the most serious charges against O’Hara and Ward. And, in front of a cheering crowd, Sutter said he agreed with the protesters.