‘NATO 3' Protestor Charged for Throwing Feces, Urine at Correctional Officer

A New Hampshire man awaiting trial in Illinois on terrorism charges related to the NATO protests last year was reportedly charged with aggravated battery for allegedly squirting a Cook County correctional officer with a shampoo bottle filled with urine and feces.

Prosecutors said Saturday that Jared Chase, 29, of Keene N.H., attacked the officer from his jail cell on Oct. 4, according to a report from the Chicago Sun-Times.

Chase was one of three men known as the "NATO 3," who were accused during the NATO Summit in Chicago of plotting to firebomb a variety of targets in the city, including police stations, President Barack Obama’s Prudential Building campaign headquarters and Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s North Side home.

Chase, Brian Church and Brent Betterly all entered pleas of not guilty in July of 2012 and were held on $1.5 million bond.

The three were charged under a never-before-used state terrorism statute, but defense lawyer Thomas Durkin questioned last year how the state can charge them with a conspiracy which allegedly began long before the May NATO Summit in May.

"We don’t want to see these people rot in jail with a ridiculous bond," Durkin said at the time. "They’re not going anywhere. They’re not terrorists."

The trial is reportedly scheduled to start early next year.

Chase was ordered held in lieu of $100,000 for his latest arrest, the Sun-Times reported.
 

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