Activist arrested after protest at Taste released from jail

A man who was arrested Saturday following a Black Lives Matter protest at Taste of Chicago has been released after posting bond.

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.

On Monday, Judge Peggy Chiampas ordered Green held on a $350,000 bond and his next court appearance is scheduled for Thursday.

Green has since posted bond, according to court records. A video posted Tuesday night to Facebook showed him being released from the Cook County Jail, with dozens of supporters cheering and hugging him.

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. At least two others were arrested in downtown protests on Sunday, and the demonstrations continued Monday afternoon.