Charges dropped against four Occupy LR defendants

Police arrest Occupy Little Rock protester Greg Deckelman Wednesday afternoon, May 16, 2012.
Police arrest Occupy Little Rock protester Greg Deckelman Wednesday afternoon, May 16, 2012.

— Charges were dropped against four Occupy Little Rock members who were arrested last May when police moved into their protest site.

Jennifer Pierce, Amy Cicirello, Glen Miller and Greg Deckelman were scheduled to go to trial Wednesday morning in Little Rock District Court. But prosecutors met with the group's attorney and then told a judge they did not want to pursue the case, Deckelman said shortly after leaving court.

Miller said the group sees the dropped charges as a victory, though there are no immediate plans to resume protesting at the site where they were arrested, at East Fourth and Ferry streets in downtown Little Rock.

"We really wanted to challenge the government's power to limit our rights to free speech and freedom of expression," Miller said.

Both men said the group has been active in other arenas, including campaign ethics reform and the Lake Maumelle watershed issue.

The Occupy Little Rock protest site began in October 2011 outside the Clinton Presidential Center before moving to the city-owned parking lot.

The four defendants, who were arrested when they remained on the site after a city-imposed deadline to leave it, were charged with disorderly conduct.

Deckelman said the group planned to hold a victory party this weekend and at some point would contemplate whether to return to Fourth and Ferry or another site.

"That honestly hasn't been discussed," he said. "I'm sure it will be."

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