Antioch man found guilty of ‘rolling coal’ at anti-Trump rally in McHenry

An Antioch man has been fined $300 for emitting black smoke -- known as “rolling coal” -- from his pickup truck at protesters during a rally in McHenry last year.

Nicholas Thompson, 18, was found guilty of disorderly conduct, a petty offense. He was sentenced to pay $300 in fines and fees by Judge Jeffrey Hirsch after a bench trial Monday.

According to a complaint against Thompson, he disturbed a lawful assembly by “rolling coal,” which emitted “a large cloud of black smoke in front of a protest” down Route 31 on July 26 “disturbing and frightening protesters.”

Several hundred people lined Route 31 near McCullom Lake Road on July 26 in McHenry to express their disagreement with social service cuts and other actions taken by the administration of President Donald Trump.

The protest, dubbed “Families First,” was organized by Indivisible McHenry County.

Three Indivisible McHenry County “protest marshals” testified during the trial Monday, along with McHenry police Officer Thomas Jager, who issued the disorderly conduct ticket to Thompson.

About a dozen people who were present at the protest attended Monday’s trial. Thompson did not appear in court but was represented by his attorney, Marc Kranz.

Indivisible McHenry County communication lead and protest marshal Sue Rose testified that she was about a foot away when a black pickup truck emitted “a big black cloud so dense that I couldn’t see the truck.” The exhaust burned her eyes and made it hard to breathe, she said.

“I felt assaulted,” Rose said. “It felt like an assault.”

Rolling coal incidents have happened at “almost all” of the rallies Indivisible McHenry County has put on, Rose said.

The group hosted a number of protests last year aimed at opposing recent Trump administration objectives.

Jager said he was dispatched for a suspicious vehicle and spoke to protesters afterward. Thompson came to the police station later that day after officers were able to get in contact with his mother, Jager said.

Thompson arrived at the station in a different vehicle.

Kranz argued Thompson experienced a “vehicle malfunction” that caused the excessive exhaust and said Thompson did not engage with any of the protesters.

But the judge said the car’s purported mechanical problems were “nothing more than an excuse for (Thompson’s) behavior after the fact.”