Charges against a Government of the Student Body off-campus senator related to this April’s riot were dismissed Thursday after a decision by the Story County Attorney’s office against going to trial.

Matthew Denner, senior in political science and a member of several student organizations, was arrested April 18 with former GSB senator and presidential candidate Drew Miller.

Police arrested Denner in the area of Hayward Avenue and Lincoln Way after an officer reportedly saw him in the riot area numerous times and repeatedly asked him to leave. The arrest was made around 4 a.m., after Ames police officer Mark Wheeler saw Denner, with Miller, still near the riot area 10 minutes after being ordered to leave, according to court documents.

Denner said after the riot that he and Miller had been headed to Denner’s car to leave the area, but stopped to speak to a KCRG-TV reporter. It was at this point Denner was arrested and charged with interference with official acts, a charge that was later amended to failure to disperse.

The county’s decision to dismiss the charges came as a surprise to Bryan Humke, Denner’s attorney, who said he had thought both he and Assistant Story County Attorney Daniel Rothman were preparing to go to trial.

“I don’t know why they did it,” Humke said of the decision to dismiss the charges.

Denner said he was mostly satisfied with the decision.

“I’m very happy the charges against me were dismissed,” he said. “I think the prosecutor made the right decision. However, I wish that I hadn’t had to go through the whole ordeal in the first place.”

Shortly after his arrest, Denner said he had come to the riot area to try to calm down the unruly masses, hoping to curb the property destruction caused during the event.

Miller, who was arrested after arguing with Wheeler about Denner’s arrest, was tried earlier in June for failure to disperse but has not yet received a verdict in his trial. Miller’s attorney, Michael Levine of ISU student legal services, and judge Thomas Hronek both took vacations until August.

Denner is not the first Veishea arrestee to have charges dismissed. Several others charged during the riot have received similar treatment, including ISU men’s basketball player Jared Homan and Justin Larson, sophomore in pre-business, who was pictured in the Daily pushing a flaming trash bin during the riot.

According to online court records of arrests made by the Ames police and the Story County sheriff’s office, 10 people charged with Veishea-related crimes have had their cases dismissed or been found not guilty.