Four arrested for protest inside Ferg
All four charged with disorderly conduct
Wayne Grayson
Assistant Student Life Editor
Issue date: 3/3/08 Section: News
Four participants in an anti-war demonstration were arrested Friday by University police.
The group, whose names have not been released by the University, reportedly stormed through the second-floor doors of the plaza entrance to the Ferguson Center around midday Friday and began yelling and cursing. They ran towards the circular couches near the information desk, where three people whose heads were covered with red and white checkered scarves were sitting.
The four people dressed up like soldiers began directing their shouts toward those three individuals. They pushed them around, restrained them and eventually took them out the door.
After the three "detainees" were taken away, one of the four "soldiers" announced that events like what had just been simulated were a common occurrence many miles away from the United States. He said people who were considering joining the army should consider that they will be doing things similar to what had just been simulated. He also said the military is oppressing people thousands of miles away.
He then invited any more students interested in learning about the issue to a meeting that night in Morgan Hall.
Throughout all this, people began to gather around the area to see what was going on. Most people looked perplexed, and a few people took out their cameras.
A short while later, UAPD cars appeared outside. Officers appeared to be questioning the individual who had delivered the short speech at the end of the protest.
According to UA spokeswoman Schandra Clark, two of those taken into custody were UA students involved with Students for a Democratic Society. The other two were non-students involved with the group Iraq Veterans Against the War.
Clark said all four involved were arrested Friday and have been charged with disorderly conduct, and the two students have been referred to Judicial Affairs.
In a statement released by SDS, the group invited Jason Hurd of the Asheville, N.C. chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War to the University to speak on his experiences in Iraq, while a 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.
According to the statement, Hurd led a similar action at the University of North Carolina at Asheville, which received much attention from the UNCA campus and community when it happened Feb. 5.
In the statement, members of SDS called for the charges to be dropped.
"We, along with members of the Tuscaloosa community, have condemned the University's actions, seeing the response of campus police as not only excessive and unwarranted, but also as an act of intimidation that essentially attempts to deny students the right to protest," the statement said. "We, as students, feel that our rights to free speech and expression have been violated, and we shudder to think of what kind of society we live in where students, holding harmless protests are met with indefinite detention and arrest."
According to the statement, SDS will not apologize for the disruptiveness of the protest.
"The U.S. invasion of Iraq was disruptive," the statement said. "...We have a right to protest peacefully what we feel is unjust."
However, an e-mail about the incident sent out Friday to all students by Dean of Students Tim Hebson, called the protest "disruptive," "alarming" and "mimicking a true emergency."
The e-mail referred to the protest as a "street drama" with those involved dressed in military-style clothing and behaving in a disruptive way that may have caused concern for those in the area.
Hebson noted that while those involved behaved irresponsibly, no one was in danger during the protest.
"The University of Alabama strongly supports the right to free speech and welcomes expressions of opinion; however, we cannot condone and will not tolerate behavior that mimics a true emergency on our campus," Hebson said.
Contributing writer Aisha Mahmood was standing inside near the plaza entrance to the 2nd floor of the Ferguson Center when the mock raid took place and contributed to this report.
The group, whose names have not been released by the University, reportedly stormed through the second-floor doors of the plaza entrance to the Ferguson Center around midday Friday and began yelling and cursing. They ran towards the circular couches near the information desk, where three people whose heads were covered with red and white checkered scarves were sitting.
The four people dressed up like soldiers began directing their shouts toward those three individuals. They pushed them around, restrained them and eventually took them out the door.
After the three "detainees" were taken away, one of the four "soldiers" announced that events like what had just been simulated were a common occurrence many miles away from the United States. He said people who were considering joining the army should consider that they will be doing things similar to what had just been simulated. He also said the military is oppressing people thousands of miles away.
He then invited any more students interested in learning about the issue to a meeting that night in Morgan Hall.
Throughout all this, people began to gather around the area to see what was going on. Most people looked perplexed, and a few people took out their cameras.
A short while later, UAPD cars appeared outside. Officers appeared to be questioning the individual who had delivered the short speech at the end of the protest.
According to UA spokeswoman Schandra Clark, two of those taken into custody were UA students involved with Students for a Democratic Society. The other two were non-students involved with the group Iraq Veterans Against the War.
Clark said all four involved were arrested Friday and have been charged with disorderly conduct, and the two students have been referred to Judicial Affairs.
In a statement released by SDS, the group invited Jason Hurd of the Asheville, N.C. chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War to the University to speak on his experiences in Iraq, while a 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.
According to the statement, Hurd led a similar action at the University of North Carolina at Asheville, which received much attention from the UNCA campus and community when it happened Feb. 5.
In the statement, members of SDS called for the charges to be dropped.
"We, along with members of the Tuscaloosa community, have condemned the University's actions, seeing the response of campus police as not only excessive and unwarranted, but also as an act of intimidation that essentially attempts to deny students the right to protest," the statement said. "We, as students, feel that our rights to free speech and expression have been violated, and we shudder to think of what kind of society we live in where students, holding harmless protests are met with indefinite detention and arrest."
According to the statement, SDS will not apologize for the disruptiveness of the protest.
"The U.S. invasion of Iraq was disruptive," the statement said. "...We have a right to protest peacefully what we feel is unjust."
However, an e-mail about the incident sent out Friday to all students by Dean of Students Tim Hebson, called the protest "disruptive," "alarming" and "mimicking a true emergency."
The e-mail referred to the protest as a "street drama" with those involved dressed in military-style clothing and behaving in a disruptive way that may have caused concern for those in the area.
Hebson noted that while those involved behaved irresponsibly, no one was in danger during the protest.
"The University of Alabama strongly supports the right to free speech and welcomes expressions of opinion; however, we cannot condone and will not tolerate behavior that mimics a true emergency on our campus," Hebson said.
Contributing writer Aisha Mahmood was standing inside near the plaza entrance to the 2nd floor of the Ferguson Center when the mock raid took place and contributed to this report.
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 28
Jason
posted 3/03/08 @ 12:24 AM CST
Stupid hippies!!!! There is a PC way for protesting, so maybe u should learn how to do it!
Jessie
posted 3/03/08 @ 2:40 AM CST
The university completely overreacted. I was there and I can tell you that it was VERY CLEAR that what was going on was guerilla theatre. The actors only spoke to the other actors, they didn't just randomly freak out at the students in the ferg. (Continued…)
Steve
posted 3/03/08 @ 7:52 AM CST
FREE THE FERG FOUR!!!!!!!
Bill
posted 3/03/08 @ 9:35 AM CST
The ACLU has these students support. The Tuscaloosa media does not. Unfortunately, the majority of people who were not there tend to exaggerate the situation. (Continued…)
CharlesW
posted 3/03/08 @ 12:34 PM CST
The right of free speech is one of non disruptive and non violent. While physical violence wasnt used a form of nonphysical violence was used. Anyone entering a crowded place and begining to yell and curse should be arrested. (Continued…)
Me
posted 3/03/08 @ 12:58 PM CST
I was on the first floor heading up to the second floor to get something to eat, when I heard all the commotion. It really scared me when I heard all the shouting and cursing. (Continued…)
conservative thought
posted 3/03/08 @ 1:34 PM CST
Haha, what a bunch of nut jobs. What if people thought that was a real situation and started intervening? Im glad they got arrested.
actual conservative thought
posted 3/03/08 @ 2:41 PM CST
We're too sheltered in America when we feel that it is ok to intervene militarily in another country to stabilize our own oil prices and yet arrest a few college kids for staging a non-violent protest. (Continued…)
Steven C.
posted 3/03/08 @ 4:30 PM CST
I support free speech, but no one would walk through an airport these days talking about blowing up airplanes. The issue here is not the war or the right to protest the war, but the right of students to act out scenes of violence on a university in light of the recent shootings at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois. (Continued…)
Matt
posted 3/03/08 @ 6:55 PM CST
Yelling and cursing, if done in the course of political speech, which this clearly was, is very much protected by the First Amendment.
This was non-violent. (Continued…)
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