[Peace-discuss] Fwd: (fwd) Urgent: Chicago antiwar students arrested for protesting CIA!!!

[Chuck Minne]

Gary Kleppe <gary at garykleppe.org> wrote:  From: Gary Kleppe <gary at garykleppe.org>
Date: Fri, 02 Mar 2007 06:33:06 -0600
Subject: [PDI] (fwd) Urgent: Chicago antiwar students arrested for
protesting CIA!!!

On Fri, 02 Mar 2007 03:09:20 -0000, Cristóbal Cavazos 
wrote:

*****FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*****
for more information please contact Dennis Kosuth at 312.316.2634 or 
dkosut1 at yahoo. com

CAMPUS ANTI WAR NETWORK ACTIVISTS ARRESTED FOR TRYING TO ENTER A 
CAMPUS-WIDE MEETING WITH REPRESENATIVES FROM THE C.I.A.

--> PHONE FAX EMAIL NEIU ADMIN <--
--> SEE ACTION ITEMS AT BOTTOM <--

At approximately 2:25 PM on February 28, 2007, at Northeastern Illinois
University (NEIU) two Campus Antiwar Network activists and NEIU Socialist Club 
members, Ken Barrios and Matt Larson, were arrested for the crime of trying to
enter a school-sponsored meeting with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). 

When the students tried to enter the meeting, Robin Wagner, the 
Chief Clerk of the Placement Office, physically tried to prevent the students
from getting into the meeting. Ms. Wagner claimed that the students did not make
"reservations" to attend the meeting. When Barrios attempted to open the door to
the meeting the police pounced on him and he was arrested for "disrupting" an
event on campus. Larson attempted to get through another door that was being
blocked by Ms. Wagner. When he got through the door and into the meeting,
according to witnesses, he was dragged out of the meeting. Ms. Wagner has
claimed that Larson hit her and is pursuing charges of assault. However, four
other witnesses there said Matt Larson never touched Ms. Wagner. Predictably,
the police were not interested in getting a statement from any of these
witnesses.

Ms. Wagner claims that reservations were needed to enter the 
meeting, but none of the fliers announcing the event claimed students would need
to make reservations. Moreover, Dean of Students Michael Kelly, on February 21,
2007 sent the following email to "student leaders" on campus:

Dear Student Leaders,

This is to inform you of military and government recruiters who have requested
space on campus this semester to distribute information and speak with students.

The dates and locations are:

US Navy, 2/23, 9-1pm, in Village Square
CIA, 2/28, 2pm, PE 2140 classroom
Various, 3/29, 11-3, Campus Job Fair, PE Gym
US Dept. of State, 4/2, 1:30, PE 2140 classroom

I would like to meet with you or your representatives to answer questions you
may have on university policies pertaining to demonstrations and the
distribution of information, should you wish to protest the presence of these
groups on campus.

Please relay your interest and I will coordinate the meeting. 

Regards,

Michael T. Kelly, MPA, Ed.D.
Dean of Students and Instructor of Educational Leadership
Northeastern Illinois University
5500 North Saint Louis Avenue, B-119
Chicago, Illinois 60625-4699

Nowhere in this email is any mention made of the need to make a reservation in
order to attend the meeting with the C.I.A. We believe that this has nothing to
do with reservations, disrupting campus events or anything of the sort. We
believe this behavior from the police at NEIU and the vigilante-like behavior of
Robin Wagner fit into a long pattern of suppressing the rights and voices of
students on campus. 

While the administration at NEIU has been more than willing to extend
invitations to such diverse groups as Heterosexuals for a Moral Environment
(H.O.M.E.) and the Central Intelligence Agency, last semester the Office of
Student Affairs decertified almost half of the registered student clubs on
campus because many student officers were unable to make a power-point
presentation scheduled in the middle of the day—an unreasonable request at a
working-class commuter college.

At NEIU we have only recently wrapped up a long battle over administrators'
attempts to create a so-called "free speech zone" on campus in a direct attempt 
to curtail that attempts of students to protest the presence of military
recruiters on campus. 

Just last spring, Larson and fellow student Mallory Bernstein were threatened
with arrest and then suspension for the "crime" of "counter-recruiting" —
exposing the lies of military recruiters-- while standing in front of a military
recruitment table in a job fair on campus. 

The result of this battle for free speech was the suspension of any talk of a
free speech zone and an affirmation of the right to protest on our campus. This 
is exemplified by the email sent out by Dean Kelly inviting students to "protest
the presence of these groups on campus". It was the actions of the NEIU police
and Robin Wagner—who took it upon herself to physically block the attempts of
registered students from entering a university event-—that turned this legal
expression of protected speech and protest into a criminal offense.

• We demand that the university drop the trivial misdemeanor charge of
"disruption" with which Ken Barrios has been charged. 

• We demand the university drop the more serious charge of "assault" with which
Matt Larson has been charged, as he never laid a finger on Robin Wagner. There
are several witness, who campus police refused to interview, that can attest to 
that fact.

• We demand the right to freely exercise our legal right to protest the presence
of military recruiters on campus without threat of administrative or police 
retaliation and harassment. 

• We demand that Ms. Robin Wagner, Chief Clerk of the Placement Office, be
disciplined for physically attempting to obstruct the entry of registered NEIU 
students into an event advertised on campus as open to everyone.

Please call, fax and email the following people to express your solidarity with
the principles of free speech and free assembly in our society in general and on
the campus of Northeastern Illinois University. Moreover, please graciously ask 
that all charges be dropped against students Ken Barrios and Matt Larson.

Robin Wagner R-Wagner at neiu.edu 
Chief Clerk in Placement Office
Phone (773)-442-4681

Michael Kelly M-Kelly2 at neiu.edu 
Dean of Students 
Phone (773)-442-4610
Fax (773)-442-4615

Lorn Coleman L-Coleman at neiu.edu 
Placement Office Director 
Office Phone(773)-442- 4693
General Placement Office Phone (773)-442-4680
Fax (773)-442-4690




 
   
   
  
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