Chicago Tribune

Heidi Stevens: I watched Michael Bloomberg debate with wrongly arrested man in mind

Michael Bloomberg joined his Democratic rivals on the debate stage for the first time Wednesday night, and I watched the discussion with Jaylan Butler on my mind.

Butler, 20, is the Eastern Illinois University student athlete who was falsely arrested and detained by police in East Moline, according to a federal lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois. Two officers held Butler on the ground. One officer held a gun to his head and said, "If you move, I'll blow your (expletive) head off," according to the suit.

Butler was traveling with his swim team back to Charleston, Illinois, from South Dakota last February when the team bus pulled over at a rest stop near the Illinois/Iowa border. Butler's

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