2 German Tourists at Protest May Be Charged

A hearing will be held later this month to decide whether two East German tourists arrested Tuesday in a protest outside the Century Plaza will face misdemeanor charges of failing to disperse.

The two tourists, Susan Conradt and Arne Frischmuth, said they showed up at the Century City demonstration to get a firsthand look at an American political protest. They were arrested along with eight protesters who demonstrated outside the hotel while President Bush was inside speaking at a fund-raiser.

Conradt and Frischmuth declined to comment but six activists who met them in jail said at a press conference Friday that the couple merely wanted to watch the event.