Three new members of the Obama occupy movement ...is there anything Obama supports that isn't befouled?
3 charged with terror conspiracy ahead of NATO
Associated Press= CHICAGO (AP) — Three men arrested earlier this week when police raided a Chicago apartment were being held on terrorism conspiracy charges Saturday stemming from allegations that they tried to make Molotov cocktails ahead of the NATO summit, but the first major dress rehearsal of this weekend's large-scale protests was relatively peaceful.
Chicago police Lt. Kenneth Stoppa said the men face a bond hearing later Saturday on charges of conspiracy to commit terrorism, possession of an explosive or incendiary device and providing material support. Stoppa identified the men being held as Brian Church, 20, of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.; Jared Chase, 24, of Keene, N.H.; and Brent Vincent Betterly, 24. A police spokesman gave Betterly's hometown as Oakland Park, Mass., but no such town exists. There is an Oakland Park, Fla., that is near Fort Lauderdale....
Their attorney, Sarah Gelsomino, told The Associated Press the men are "absolutely in shock and have no idea where these charges are coming from."
Six others also arrested Wednesday in the raid of the South Side apartment where they were staying were released Friday without charges being filed.
One of those protesters, Occupy activist Darrin Annussek of Philadelphia, denied there were Molotov cocktails in the apartment or that raw materials had been compiled to make them.
Occupy descends on Chicago.
The big show will be on Sunday, the start of the two-day NATO summit, when thousands of protesters are expected to march 2 ½ miles from a band shell on Lake Michigan to the McCormick Place convention center, where delegates will be meeting.On Friday, Chicago police on bicycles and foot tailed activists through the streets of the city, but ignored taunts and went out of their way to make as few arrests as possible. Protesters made a lot of noise and tried to evade police, but otherwise were relatively uneventful.
In all, police said there was a single arrest on a charge of aggravated battery of a police officer. Another man was briefly taken into custody, but he was released a short time later after being questioned by police, a department spokesman said.
Also, officers were seen trying to arrest a man who scaled a bridge tower and pulled down part of a NATO banner. Earlier, police handcuffed a man at the end of a noisy but largely peaceful rally organized by the nation's largest nurses union.
From the police side of the protest line, it went largely how Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy envisioned it earlier this month when he said, "We're not going to lock somebody up for dropping a banana peel."
Michael Olstewski, 22, a recent music school graduate who came to Chicago from Atlanta, one of hundreds of protesters who took to the streets on Friday for a spontaneous march, said protesters may be waiting to make a big statement. He said he didn't do anything to get arrested Friday, "but later in the week ... If I feel it's strategic and a powerful statement" he would provoke police into arresting him.
Nor were some protesters particularly surprised that police exhibited restraint even when they acted in ways that might have gotten them arrested — like the dozens of protesters who sat in the street for a short time before they got up and left after one of them, Micah Philbrook, grabbed a bullhorn and told them to leave.
In fact, at one point, on the bridge at Michigan Avenue, the gateway to the city's famed shopping district, the Magnificent Mile, the number of officers swelled and officers appeared to be poised to forcibly remove the protesters from the area. Instead, they simply waited while the protesters left on their own.
Observers said that police showed restraint during the day that included the sight of hundreds of protesters breaking away from a large rally, march through the streets and taunt police as well as shouting about everything from bank bailouts to nuclear power.
"I think the police are handling themselves very well," said Jennifer Lacy, a freelance videographer and editor from Chicago who took pictures of the spectacle with her cell phone. "It seems like they have it all organized, and it doesn't seem their tempers are going to be easily flared. I think they're mindful we're going to be on the world stage."
