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Protest Organizer Released From Jail After Supporters Raise Bail

Updated 07/13/16 - 9:46 p.m.

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Protest organizer Ja'Mal Green walked out of Cook County Jail on Tuesday, after a family friend paid his $35,000 bail on five felony charges stemming from his arrest during a protest of the fatal police shootings in Louisiana and Minnesota.

Green was one of 19 people arrested following Black Lives Matter demonstrations at the Taste of Chicago and around the Loop on Saturday. Activists were speaking out against the police shooting deaths of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge and Philando Castile near St. Paul, as well as the deadly attack on police in Dallas.

Prosecutors said, during Saturday's protests, Green ignored a police officer's order to get down from a fence, spit on a police officer, and punched a police commander in the shoulder. Green also allegedly grabbed a police captain's duty belt about an inch away from the officer's service weapon, after the march had moved to Michigan Avenue near Water Tower Place.

Green was charged with aggravated battery to a peace officer, aggravated battery in a public place, attempting to disarm a peace officer, and resisting arrest. A judge set his bond at $350,000, meaning he must post $35,000 to get out of jail.

His girlfriend, Ayana Clark, said a family friend posted bail. Green's supporters had been raising money to pay his bail, and Clark said they would now use that money to pay back the family friend. As of Tuesday afternoon, they had raised about $26,000 through donations to a PayPal account.

"Most of our contributions have been from individuals. We've had a couple community leaders who have put up over $1,000 apiece, but the majority of our money has just came from people giving $5 to $10 here and there," she said.

As a condition of his bail, Green was placed on electronic monitoring and home confinement, according to a spokeswoman for the Cook County Sheriff's Office.

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Green's supporters said his bond was set so high because those in the justice system "have it in for him."

"We have a young man that does not have a criminal history. He should not be locked up at all," said Tio Hardiman, president of Violence Interrupters Chicago.

Eric Russell, with the Tree of Life Justice League of Illinois, called Green a "political prisoner."

"This is politics of the highest order," he said.

Green's sister, Tacarra Dade, was taken into custody Monday for shouting in the courtroom after the judge announced Green's bail. She later apologized for disrupting court, but said the bond amount was "ridiculous."

"They're trying to send a message. … They don't want people protesting," she said.

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