The federal government dropped charges against two Pennsylvania men they originally said traveled to Cleveland on May 30 to participate in a riot.
When the with transporting a firearm or explosive in furtherance of civil disorder, conspiracy to use an explosive to commit a felony and participating in a riot, Cleveland鈥檚 mayor, police chief and federal law enforcement all appeared at a press conference to publicize the arrests.
鈥淭he work is just starting,鈥� in June. 鈥淭here鈥檚 still a lot of folks out there that came here with the intent to tear down our city. We鈥檙e not going to let that happen.鈥�
Nine months later, the charges against Althof-Long and Poland have been dropped.
Problems with the case emerged in November, when the court threw out physical evidence 鈥� knives, a gun, fire starter and spray paint 鈥� from a vehicle search on the night of the protests.
鈥淭he state must prove that defendants acted recklessly in failing to obey a lawful order of a police officer,鈥� wrote U.S. District Court Chief Judge Patricia Gaughan. 鈥淗ere, however, there is no evidence that either defendant failed to comply with a lawful order or direction 鈥榦f any police辞蹿蹿颈肠别谤.鈥欌赌�
The court said the two men鈥檚 presence in Downtown Cleveland when the area was under a was not sufficient reason to conduct a search. Jackson instituted the curfew the evening of May 30, after protests against police brutality turned violent in Downtown Cleveland.
The U.S. Attorney鈥檚 office dismissed the case against Althof-Long and Poland on Tuesday.
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