Occupier in police fight released from custody

Published December 29, 2011 5:00am ET



An Occupy DC protester, who police said kicked a U.S. Park Police officer so hard in the groin that the officer vomited, has been released from police custody but banned from Occupy’s McPherson Square camp by the D.C. Superior Court. James Donald Ruffin, of Sandy Springs, Ga., was involved in a fight with officers at the McPherson Square Occupy DC campsite on Dec. 22 and charged with a felony count of assaulting a police officer and one count of assault with a dangerous weapon — his shoes.

At a hearing Tuesday, Ruffin, who was known only as Tank around the Occupy DC camp, was released from police custody on the condition that he stay away from McPherson Square, according to court documents. It’s not clear whether he’s been banned from the other Occupy camp at Freedom Plaza.

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