Activist Ordered Held On $350,000 Bond After Arrest At Taste Of Chicago
(STMW) -- Bond was set at $350,000 Monday for a man who was arrested following a Black Lives Matter protest at Taste of Chicago on Saturday.
Ja'Mal Green, 20, was charged with two felony counts each of aggravated battery to a peace officer, and aggravated battery in a public place, according to the Cook County state's attorney's office. He also faces one felony count of attempting to disarm a peace officer, and two misdemeanor counts of resisting arrest.
Green's family disagreed with the allegations and were shocked at the bond amount.
"It's ridiculous," his sister, Taccara Dade, tells CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot. "They're trying to send a message. They don't want people protesting."
Green was one of 19 people arrested in Saturday's protests at Taste and around the Loop following police shootings of black men in Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and near St. Paul, Minnesota; and the deadly attack on police in Dallas.
The group, including Black Lives Matters activists, began with about 50 people outside the Taste at Michigan and Van Buren, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. They were met by a dozen police officers who wouldn't let them into the free festival with the oversized signs they carried, calling for "Justice for Alton and Philando" — Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, who were killed by police officers in in caught-on-video shootings that have rocked the nation in recent days.
Four protesters were arrested in the Near North police district, and 15 arrests happened in the Central District, police said.
Judge Peggy Chiampas ordered Green held on a $350,000 bond Monday and his next court appearance is scheduled for Thursday.
At least two others were arrested in downtown protests on Sunday, and the demonstrations continued Monday afternoon.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire copy; Chicago Sun-Times 2016. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
