Subject: Anti-recruitment protester arrested in Madison Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2005 10:19:54 -0600 Message-ID: <B14120EE5C432443B21102F7925DAD020142049D@COKE.uwec.edu> From: "Grossman, Zoltan C." <GROSSMZC@uwec.edu>
From: JOHN EDWARD PECK <jepeck@students.wisc.edu>
To: stopwaryouth@yahoogroups.com, announce@madpeace.org,
madftaa@lists.riseup.net, madwobs@yahoogroups.com,
essa@lists.stdorg.wisc.edu
Subject: [MAPC-Announce] Anti-War Protester Arrested for
Exercising
Her Free Speech Rights at UW's Memorial Union
Date: Feb 17, 2005 8:33 AM
>From Madison Indymedia website
http://madison.indymedia.org/feature/display/21869/index.php)...
*********************
Anti-War Protester Arrested for Exercising Her Free Speech Rights at
UW's Memorial Union
At 5:00 pm on Wed. Feb. 16th, UW Police selectively targetted Blake
Trimbell for arrest as she and about two dozen others protested the
presence of military recruiters at Memorial Union. Police were enforcing
an obscure "no free speech at the Union except in the lobby" rule.
Earlier that afternoon, about two dozen protesters, both UW-Madison
students and concerned Madison residents, attended the Multicultural
Career Fair in Memorial Union's Great Hall. After passing through a
rather Orwellian gauntlet of Union employees, checking and scanning ID
cards, the anti-war activists discovered that not only was the Navy
present, but also the FBI, the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and the Dept.
of Homeland Security. Protesters congregated around the Navy booth and
began to inform other fair attendees that the military was not welcome
on campus. Within a short time about a dozen UW police arrived to squash
free speech as we know it.
Upon conferring with higher-ups, the Commanding Officer, Lt. Eric Holen,
had some pretty amazing comments on the current police approach to civil
liberties to share with protesters. He basically informed them that
their mere presence constituted a "disturbance," no matter what they
did. Shortly, thereafter one protester, Blake Trimbell, was singled out
and arrested for "disorderly conduct" ($274 fine). This was despite the
fact that about twenty other individuals were engaged in the exact same
free speech she was doing -- holding signs and banners, chanting and
singing, distributing literature, engaging passerbys. Selective and
discretionary enforcement of "rules" by the police is nothing new and
a tactic often used to intimidate citizens seeking to exercise their
freedom.
The UW police were supposedly called by Union officials to enforce an
obscure "no free speech at the Union except in the lobby" rule. A
spokesperson for the union who was present could not provide those
present with an actual copy of the supposed "rule," nor is it found on
the Wisconsin Union's website. Repeated requests by campus activists
over the years for a copy of this "rule," most recently just last week,
have turned up nothing. If such a "rule" does exist, it is a clear
violation of the First Amendment, as well as many state and local rules
guaranteeing the freedom of expression, and needs to be challenged.
Ironically, the mere presence of the military itself, on campus is
another flagrant violation of Wisconsin state statute and the University
of Wisconsin's own policy which specifically prohibit discrimination on
the basis of age, race, creed, color, handicap, marital status, sex,
national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, arrest record or
conviction record. In its hiring, employment, and disciplinary
practices, the United States military actively discriminates on the
basis of sexual orientation, yet they are routinely allowed to exercise
their institutionalized homophobia on campus without consequence. The
usual penalty for defying state and university non-discrimination
policies is denial of facilities, such as access to UW Memorial Union.
If you're interested in defending the "fearless sifting and winnowing
for truth" at UW-Madison, then contact the Union Director, Mark Guthier,
and UW-Madison Chancellor, John Wiley, to drop the charges against Blake
Trimbell, and publicly reaffirm their commitment to basic democratic
freedoms by also dropping the absurd "no free speech at the Union except
in the lobby" rule.
Mark Guthier, Wisconsin Union Director
mcguthier@wisc.edu #608-262-2263
John Wiley, UW-Madison Chancellor
jdwiley@bascom.wisc.edu #608-262-9946
Those wishing to contribute to the General Defense Committee in support
of Blake as she contests this charge, can send checks to the MAGDC Legal
Defense Fund, P.O. Box 811, Madison, WI 53701