On Friday, Cook County prosecutors called for the NATO 3 — the three men accused of attempting to disrupt the 2012 NATO summit in Chicago and ultimately convicted of possessing Molotov cocktails — to be given a minimum of 14 years each in prison.
In a 48-page sentencing memo from Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Jack Blakey, Brian Church, Jared Chase and Brent Betterly have displayed a “defiant refusal to take responsibility for their conduct.” The prosecution alleged that the three plotted attacks against police stations, the headquarters for the Obama campaign and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s home.
Church was sentenced to five years in prison, Chase to eight years and Betterly to six. Many have argued their case and sentencing represents a city desperate to justify its heavy-handed tactics with an attempt to pin blame on individuals whose attorneys have stated were big-talking “goofs” led astray by two undercover police officers.
“My mind, through a pot and beer induced haze, was never anywhere near even wanting to commit property damage, let alone blowing things up or burning things down,” Church wrote in a letter to the court.
“Those who know who I am, who understand the depth of my desire for truly progressive change and peace, know that I am not capable of harboring such mindlessly violent intentions,” added Betterly.
Prosecutors, in their filing to the court, asserted that Betterly’s defiance could be seen in his “threats” to law enforcement while in jail, his use of an inappropriate racial comment to a black correctional officer, and the time he punched the window of a guard station and yelled, “Fuck the police!”
The three men were convicted of two misdemeanor counts of mob action and two felony counts of possession of explosives, but they were cleared of the two most serious counts — providing material support for terrorism and conspiracy to commit terrorism. They were also acquitted of two counts of possessing an incendiary device and one count of solicitation of arson. This case represents Illinois’ first prosecution on terrorism charges under a law passed after the 9/11 attacks.
The prosecution’s case revolved around the testimony of Nadia Chikko and Mehmet Uygun, two undercover Chicago Police Department officers who infiltrated the group. Defense testimony showed the three accused men as having “delusions of protesting grandeur” betrayed by frequently being drunk and high and being unable to accomplish even simple tasks — at one point, Church missed a protest because he was waiting for a marijuana dealer.
At another point, Church declined when Chikko asked if he wanted to try out one of the Molotov cocktails — gasoline inside a breakable glass bottle with a cloth wick — that the group made with the assistance of the undercover officers. “I’m too (expletive) cold to be going anywhere. I want to wrap up in my blanket and sleep,” said Church.
Despite the trio’s inability to act on their threats, the prosecution argued that the fact that they drove to Chicago from Florida and were planning on committing the act showed intent. During the sentencing hearing on Friday, the prosecution wasted little time painting the trio’s plans in parallel to the Boston Marathon bombing, arguing that trivializing the men’s intentions would be a “tragic folly.”
The trio did not engage in any acts of destruction or public harm. They were arrested in a midnight search warrant raid in May 2012, in which the police detained the original group of 11 — including the two undercover officers — in handcuffs for 18 hours, ultimately releasing most with no charges. The police only found beer-making equipment and supplies in the apartment.
Allegations of mistreatment led police to modify their allegations of what was found in the search warrant to include a compound bow with nine arrows, a black tactical vest, an empty gas can, a throwing star, two knives and two swords in sheaths, a black flag attached to a PVC pipe and the four Molotov cocktails. This list of equipment formed the core of the prosecution’s possession case.
Chase’s attorney, Thomas Anthony Durkin, countered by stating that the prosecutors were trying to save face by attaching stiff sentences to a failed case.
“They still don’t get that the whole world is laughing at them,” Durkin told sentencing Judge Thaddeus Wilson.