Trespassing charges against Jackson, Pfleger dropped

The Chicago Tribune reports:

Criminal charges of trespassing against Reverends Jesse Jackson and Michael Pfleger, filed after a protest outside a south suburban gun store, were dropped Tuesday, officials said.

The Cook County state's attorney's office decided to drop the charges after reviewing the evidence and determining it could not prove its case, said Andy Conklin, a spokesman for the office.

Jackson and Pfleger were arrested in June after a confrontation with John Riggio, owner of Chuck's Gun Shop in Riverdale. At the time, the two clergymen and civil rights activists were leading demonstrations outside the gun shop to highlight the toll that gun violence has taken on Chicago youths.

When Riggio complained, Jackson and Pfleger were arrested. They appeared for a hearing in the Markham Courthouse in August to face the charges and said then they would continue their fight.

But on Tuesday morning, attorneys appeared in court for a status hearing, and the charges were dropped, Conklin said. He would not say what evidence prosecutors had reviewed or what led them to their decision.

Jesse Jackson's got "friends" in high places.