CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) -
Another of the nine protesters arrested during a police raid in Bridgeport, was released from jail Friday night.
Pictures of a door jamb allegedly broken late Wednesday night at the start of the police raid were posted on the internet. Others showed disarray, and what the chief tenant's brother called harmless beer brewing equipment, not used to create anything dangerous.
He was not present during the raid, was not seized and claimed that making threats was not sufficient grounds for arrest.
"Someone I know may have said something that they dislike," Michael Vassilakis said, whose brother leases the raided apartment. "We haven't done anything. We're simply trying to live. They're simply trying to make sure that we don't."
Those living in the six-flat near 32nd and Morgan have apparently been under police surveillance since at least May 9. Chief tenant William Vassilakis told FOX Chicago News that was when the cell phone video was made.
Police had stopped a car containing Vassilakis and others, questioning them for several minutes about their intentions leading up to the NATO summit. At one point, an officer allegedly recounts what happened during the 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention, adding that protestors got a "billy club to the f***ing skull."
He said Wednesday night's raid was still a surprise.
"They had decided what they wanted to find before they came in," William Vassilakis said. "It was funny to me, because they must have been frustrated.
Chicago police still decline any comment on Wednesday night's raid. Several anti-NATO protestors were picked up in the raid were released Friday without any charges.
The National Lawyers Guild expressed outrage that police were still holding several of the anti-NATO activists picked up in the raid two days ago. When FOX Chicago News pressed Supt. Garry McCarthy for an explanation, he said investigators were conducting a very sensitive investigation.
"We're not going to talk about it. We're just not going to talk about it," McCarthy said. "It's an ongoing investigation that is not completed."
Darrin Annussek and other supporters of the Occupy movement were eager to talk about the incident. The 36-year-old would-be social worker from Philadelphia said he and others were taken from a South Side apartment building about Wednesday night just before midnight.
He said he was stunned by what happened next.
"They did not speak to us for 18 hours. They did not let us know what was happening," Annussek said. "We did not know what was happening next."
An attorney from the National Lawyers Guild claimed police had no legal basis for even entering the apartment, much less taking Annussek and others into custody.
"These individuals had their home broken into by the Chicago Police Dept.," Sarah Gelsomino said. "They were detained without cause. They asked to see a warrant. The police said no. They wouldn't show them a warrant. They wouldn't give them access to search their house. The police searched their house anyhow. At the same time, the police entered three other apartments in that building."
Annussek claimed the raid involved Chicago police using at least 10 different vehicles.
He also said he the other activists were held in shackles for much of the time. Since he was never interrogated by police, he may not have been read a Miranda warning, and may not have been placed under formal, legal arrest, despite being held for more than a day.
But police have given wide latitude to some demonstrators, not arresting any of the dozens who blocked traffic by marching in the street Thursday night in Lakeview - nor the night before in Bridgeport.
Officials have reported 14 protest-related arrests since Wednesday. The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois' legal director said his group believes 30 or more people have been taken into custody.
Harvey Grossman said the police might have had grounds to make arrests in those cases, but played it smart by refraining.
"That's a lot of confrontation to try to deal with," Grossman said. "I think that's a prudent decision by the police department."
