Des Moines Register
Cameron Lard is still wondering why he was criminally charged, then told his case would be dismissed, then charged again in the wake of last year’s George Floyd protests in Des Moines.
Lard, a former Iowa State University basketball player, says he wasn't part of the protests, didn't disobey any police instructions and was actually on his front doorstep, pulling out his keys to go inside, when he and a friend were swarmed by police early on May 31.
He was charged with unlawful assembly and failure to disperse. Court documents allege he was "a member of a group (of WELL over three people)" who assembled to protest that day, and that he "willfully stayed among the group" as the protest turned toward property damage and despite police orders to disperse.