[Peace] CAN ACTIVISTS ARRESTED

[martin smith]

please forward widely...

*****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 REPRESENTATIVES
>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 administrator’s 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” that 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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