Cathe Weintraub, a Washington University student, pleaded not guilty earlier this month to a charge of assaulting a St. Louis police officer at a rally in March protesting United States involvement in El Salvador.

Weintraub was charged with pushing the officer while he was attempting to keep an aisle clear between the oval of picketers and the post office where they were demonstrating.

"[Weintraub] was over out of the [picket] line and I put out my arm as an indication to stay in line. She pushed me, and of course, I couldn't have that, and I arrested her," said the arresting officer, Sgt. John Nieman.

Weintraub claims the arrest was politically motivated. "I was being very vocal. I was putting out my political line very clearly and very visibly. I was obviously, if not the most radical person at the demonstration, one of the most--and part of a group that was very radical," she said. The trial will be held later this month.