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Students Arrested on Campus Over War Protest
SDS members at the University of Alabama were arrested after performing street theatre about the Iraq War which doubled as advertising for an upcoming speaker from Iraq Veterans Against the War. From the AP:
Campus police detained the four from about 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
before taking them to jail and they were released after
posting bond around midnight, Stainer said.The demonstration began when the four, dressed as soldiers,
entered the Ferguson Center Friday afternoon and began
yelling and cursing, The Crimson White reported Monday.The "soldiers" ran toward three people whose heads
were covered with red and white checkered scarves and pushed
them around, restrained them and eventually took them from
the building.After the three "detainees" were taken away, Hurd
told those in the center that events like the dramatized
incident were common occurrences overseas and invited them
to a meeting scheduled that night."At first people were like 'Oh my gosh' and
they were understandably startled," said Stainer, who
was present at the demonstration but did not participate."Some people clapped afterward. Some people were angry
afterward because of their stance on the war, but
that's what it was supposed to do — get people talking
about their views," she said.The student group released a statement following the arrests
saying Hurd had been invited to speak about his experiences
in Iraq and the reenactment of a U.S. raid of Iraqi
civilians was intended to demonstrate to students the human
cost of the U.S. occupation of Iraq.The group, calling for the charges to be dropped, said Hurd
led a similar action at the University of North Carolina at
Asheville on Feb. 5 without incident. [Full Article Here]
- Patrick St. John's blog
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UPDATE: Release from Tuscaloosa SDS:
Activists, Iraq Vet Arrested in "Mock Raid"
Four protesters were arrested and charged with "disorderly conduct" after members of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) staged a mock-raid with Jason Hurd, member of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW).
Hurd, along with members of Tuscaloosa- SDS and Asheville-SDS, were detained for over four hours on Friday, Feb. 29th, before being taken away in handcuffs to Tuscaloosa City Jail. During interrogation, UA-PD insinuated the protesters were terrorists and threatened to hand the case over the F.B.I. The bail was set for a total of $2,500. The non-students were also charged with trespassing and are now banned from university property.
The University has already released a statement condemning the action, claiming it "may have been alarming to those in the area" and that they "will not tolerate behavior that mimics a true emergency on our campus." Several news sources have reported that the University plans on launching an investigation against the Tuscaloosa chapter of SDS, an officially registered student organization.
"If you are one of those people who was frightened, you had a glimpse of what it feels like to be an Iraqi man, woman or child who experiences things like this and worse everyday," said J VanBolt, a UA student who witnessed the mock raid. "That is life for people in Iraq."
We, Tuscaloosa-SDS, condemn the actions of the University, which we feel was not only exaggerated, but politically motivated. We demand that all charges be dropped. We want an apology from the University for their attempts to equate protesting with terrorism and violence. We refuse to be intimidated and harassed on our own campus.
We are urging supporters to contact the University, to let them know their will not be tolerated! We have a right to protest the unjust and illegal occupation of Iraq. We have a right to make students aware of the immense suffering the U.S. occupation is causing the Iraqi people. Please help us put pressure on the University to DROP ALL CHARGES NOW!
PROTEST IS NOT A CRIME! U.S. OUT OF IRAQ!!!!
In solidarity,
SDS-Tuscaloosa
Good Job
Wow...Hats off to the demonstration!!! I wish I could have been there. It's time to get people talking about US occupation in Iraq. This is an illegal and unjust war. The media purposely under-acknowledges the atrociites occurring in Iraq as a result of this war.