Trespass charges against veteran protesters dropped

<p>Criminal charges have been dropped against three men who were arrested after stepping onto Fort Benning during an anti-war protest there early this month.</p><p>Liam Madden and Nate Lewis, both 24, and Adam Kokesh were arrested by military police for criminal trespass shortly after they stepped onto base property during a bus tour protesting the war in Iraq.</p><p>Madden and Lewis are members of the group Iraq Veterans Against the War and were traveling with six other veterans.</p><p>A spokesman for the group said the men did not mean to break the law and had accidentally crossed a property line that wasn't clearly marked while trying to ask a guard if they could come onto the base.</p><p>Government attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the charges this week.</p><p>"Upon consideration of the government's motion, the court is satisfied that there exists reasonable cause to believe that the case against this defendant should not be pursued, and that the ends of justice would not be served by doing so," U.S. Magistrate G. Mallon Faircloth said in a Friday order.</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x2de9bf4)</p>