Yoshie
>Date: Sat, 10 Jun 2000 09:36:03 +0000
>Reply-To: shaw.260 at osu.edu
>Sender: owner-allfac at lists.acs.ohio-state.edu
>From: "Wendy M. K. Shaw" <shaw.260 at osu.edu>
>To: kirwan.1 at osu.edu, Ed.Ray at admin.ohio-state.edu
>Cc: Columbus Network <ColumbusNetwork at listbot.com>, lantern at osu.edu,
> mellis at dispatch.com, clease at dispatch.com, editor at chronicle.com
>Subject: arrests at OSU graduation
>
>Dear President Kirwan,
>
>At the Ohio State University Graduation on June 9, 2000, four guests of
>a graduating Master's student were arrested for peaceful support of a
>peaceful demonstration. This is at best a ridiculous embarassment to
>the university, and at worst a travesty of justice and of the right to
>free speech which we as Americans hold so dear.
>
>The events transpired as follows: The mother (who was ill and barely
>able to attend the graduation), brother, and two friends of Oona Besman
>were attending her graduation from the master's program in Women's
>Studies. As marchers from the Afrikan Student Union protested the
>designated speaker, JC Watts, these four guests of the university stood
>and turned their backs to the speaker in support of the protest. This
>was the full extent of their action. The people behind them became
>irate and threatened them with violence. Seeing that their threats were
>uneffective, these people went to a nearby officer and told him that if
>he didn't make them sit down, they would. Rather than castigating these
>members of the audience who were threatening violence, the officer whom
>they addressed, Captain John Petrie, arrested the four guests who were
>standing. They heard no warning whatsoever from the arresting officer.
>The brother was handcuffed immediately; the three women were handcuffed
>at the patrol cars before they were taken to the OSU police facility.
>Three hours later, the four guests of the university were taken to the
>County Correctional Facility and charged with the misdemeanors of
>persistant disorderly conduct and obstruction of official business.
>They were released between 9:30 and 10:30 PM last night.
>
>At this point, the Ohio State University is still pressing charges
>against them. What kind of university arrests, detains, and presses
>charges against its own guests at a graduation? Not only do people
>have the right to peaceful protest -- indeed, the protesters were not
>arrested -- they have the right to peacefully support such protest,
>particularly at a public event at a public university.
>
>Please note that the arresting officer was the same officer who last
>month arrested Andre Banks, an African-American OSU senior who alone was
>chosen for arrest, again without warning, from group of peaceful white
>protestors. His charges are also still pending, and also speaks to the
>overzealous behaviour on the part of this officer, who must be
>investigated. The racial issues involved in this arrest are
>particularly shocking in light of the ongoing federal investigation of
>the Columbus Police Department for their practices of racial profiling.
>
>I urge you to have all of these charges dropped immediately, for all of
>them are an embarassment to the ideals of free speech which the
>university claims to defend and even encourage as an institution of
>higher education. At present, you are allowing the poor judgement of
>one officer to determine the actions of the entire university, which is
>currently pressing charges against five innocent people. This is a
>travesty of education, of free speech, and of justice. It is also a
>profound embarassment to the university.
>
>Please note, I am sending this message to several media outlets, and
>also will be contacting the Ohio chapter of the ACLU. If the university
>does not drop charges immediately, I urge those who are shocked by these
>events to please also voice your opinions to the university
>administration directly. While they may seem small and local, each
>travesty of justice and infringement on free speech presents a danger to
>us all, and I assure you that these events have been anything but small
>for those who were arrested for trusting in the first amendment.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Wendy M. K. Shaw
>Assistant Professor
>Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures