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NATO Protester Gets 364 Days In Cook County Jail

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Christopher French (Credit: Chicago Police)

CHICAGO (CBS) -- An anti-NATO protester was sentenced to roughly a year in Cook County Jail Thursday after he admitted he scuffled with the Chicago Police officers who tried to arrest him during the mass demonstrations.

Christopher French was originally charged with four counts of felony aggravated battery to a police officer and resisting arrest -- a misdemeanor -- for the May 20, 2012, incident, the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting.

But under an agreement, prosecutors agreed to drop the felony charges in exchange for French's plea for the less serious charge.

Judge Carol Howard sentenced 22-year-old French to 364 days in jail and ordered him to pay $254 in fines.

During the protests in downtown Chicago, the Wisconsin man charged an officer who was trying to arrest another protester who had knocked the officer down, prosecutors said.

"You aren't arresting him," police said French told the cop, pushing him in the 400 block of South Wabash.

The officer suffered a cut on his left hand.

Officers had to use an "emergency takedown," and French tried to grab the wrist of an officer, making it hard for him to be handcuffed, prosecutors said.

One officer tripped and cut his left wrist, requiring medical attention and another officer scraped his knees, police said at the time.

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