Christopher French (left) is accused of pushing a Chicago police officer trying to make an arrest during an anti-NATO protest march on May 20, 2012. Alex Cerajewski (right) is accused of hurling two Gatorade bottles at police and urging “Black Bloc” anarchists to blend in with other protesters. (Credit: Chicago Police)
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CHICAGO (STMW) – Two more anti-NATO protesters have been charged with felonies, in the wake of Sunday night’s demonstrations in downtown Chicago.
Alex Cerajewski is accused of hurling two Gatorade bottles at police and urging “Black Bloc” anarchists to blend in with other protesters, and Christopher French, 21, is charged with pushing an officer trying to make an arrest, Cook County prosecutors said Tuesday.
French was ordered held in lieu of $250,000 bond for aggravated battery to a police officer. Cerajewski was charged with mob action and held on $50,000 bond.
Cerajewski, 20, an Indiana resident, dressed head to toe in black, urged Black Bloc members to infiltrate the larger masses of protesters near the Art Institute, according to police, who said that after throwing bottles at police stationed in front of the museum, Cerajewski took off his black garments and walked away. Cerajewski was arrested a few blocks away.
Earlier, in the 400 block of South Wabash Avenue, French allegedly charged an officer who was trying to arrest a protester who had knocked him down.
“You aren’t arresting him,” the police said the Wisconsin man told the officer, pushing him.
Officers used an “emergency takedown,” and French tried to make it hard for them to handcuff him, the police said, adding that one officer tripped and cut his left wrist, requiring medical attention. They said another officer scraped his knees and that the officer French originally had a confrontation with suffered a cut to his left hand.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2012. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
