Two Arrested NATO Protesters Released

By aaroncynic in News on May 30, 2012 3:20PM

Cook County Judge Marvin Luckman dropped charges against a Los Angeles man who was arrested at an immigrants rights rally in the lead up to the NATO summit protests. CBS2 reports Danny Johnson, who was arrested and charged with aggravated battery and obstructing traffic, had those charges dropped because Luckman found no probable cause. Johnson was one of four arrested during an immigrants rights march on May 15 and spent seven days in jail.

Prosecutors accused the 31-year-old man of punching an officer in the chest, but he maintained he didn’t touch the officer. The activist said “an officer grabbed me as I was going through the crosswalk and told me I was under arrest.” Johnson told the Sun-Times he continued his activist work in jail with another Occupy member, holding teach-ins and explaining the Occupy movement to some officers. He said his time in lock up was “awesome,” and that he “would not speak badly of my time in Cook County Jail.”

Six activists arrested in connection with the NATO summit protests still remain in jail, with bail ranging from $4,000 to $75,000. Last night, Samuel Blantz, who pulled a banner down from a bridge tower on Michigan Avenue was released at about 7 p.m. Blantz, a 23 year old homeless Iraq War veteran, told the Tribune last week he tore down the banner “for the sake of showing that we do not like NATO and their treason against us.”