Amy Kaper promises she is not a gang member.

The 29-year-old graduate student does not run drugs, traffic guns, or work in any organized crime ring.

But, she did protest police violence last year.

For that, the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office and the Phoenix Police Department are aggressively prosecuting Kaper — and a group of 17 other defendants, including three minors — for being part of a criminal street gang following an October 17 protest in downtown Phoenix.

In fact, officers and prosecutors allege the group is as dangerous — and in some ways more dangerous — than notorious gangs like the Crips, Bloods, and Hells Angels...