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<font size=3>Harvard Calls for Charges Against Arrested Students To Be
Dropped<br>
Published On 5/2/2007 12:23:05 AM<br>
By <a href="http://www.thecrimson.com/writer.aspx?ID=1203241">CRIMSON
NEWS STAFF </a><br>
None<br><br>
Harvard tonight asked that criminal charges be dropped against four
undergraduates arrested last week for disrupting a speech by the director
of the FBI. <br><br>
"Given the importance of dissent in an academic community, the
arrest of a student protestor remains a significant event," said a
statement released tonight by a University spokesman. "The
University is persuaded that more could have been done in the
circumstances to apprise the students that they were in jeopardy of
arrest. Without condoning the students’ behavior at the Forum, broader
principles have led the University to request that the criminal charges
against the students be dropped." <br><br>
Last Thursday, Kelly L. Lee ’07, Michael A. Gould-Wartofsky ’07, Maura A.
Roosevelt ’07 and J. Claire Provost ’07 had planned a coordinated protest
in which each would consecutively interrupt the speaker, FBI Director
Robert S. Mueller III, by yelling specific complaints from the audience.
They <a href="http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=518560">were
arrested</a> by members of the Harvard University Police Department and
<a href="http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=518625">charged with
disturbing a public assembly</a>. <br><br>
According to the police report, obtained by The Crimson from the
Cambridge District Courthouse Monday, “All of the individuals were
yelling ‘the FBI are murderers’ and ‘the FBI equals terrorism.’ They were
all yelling other slogans as well but kept repeating the two
aforementioned phrases the most.” <br><br>
However, video footage from the
event<a href="http://ksgaccman.harvard.edu/iop/events_forum_listview.asp?Type=PS">
available online</a> on the IOP’s Web
site<a href="http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=518647">shows
that neither of these phrases was ever uttered</a> by the protesters.
<br><br>
Instead, protesters yelled a series of statements that the students said
were carefully planned out and meant to be targeted towards specific
issues. <br><br>
Among the statements yelled by the protesters at the speech were: “We
will never forget the state terror waged by the FBI against peaceful
political dissidents. We will never forget the FBI’s role in
McCarthyism,” “Stop the Green scare, stop the unconstitutional repression
of environmental activists,” “Free the Panther Eight. Justice for Herman
Bell,” and “Close Guantanamo. End the lies, end the secrets.” <br><br>
<br>
<b><a href="http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=518657">
http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=518657</a><br><br>
</b>Arrest Report Disputed <br>
IOP video footage reveals police report's inaccuracies<br>
Published On 5/1/2007 3:26:08 AM<br>
By <a href="http://www.thecrimson.com/writer.aspx?ID=1203018">JAMISON A
HILL</a><br>
Crimson Staff Writer<br><br>
The police report filed for the arrest of four undergraduates last
Thursday for their protest during a speech at the Institute of Politics
(IOP) has been found to contain several errors, including misquoting the
students and inaccurately representing the order of events, according to
video footage of the incident. <br><br>
The Harvard University Police Department, which arrested the protestors,
declined to comment in response to the findings. <br><br>
Kelly L. Lee ’07, Michael A. Gould-Wartofsky ’07, Maura A. Roosevelt ’07
and J. Claire Provost ’07 had planned a coordinated protest in which each
would consecutively interrupt the speaker, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller
III, by yelling specific complaints from the audience. <br><br>
According to the police report, obtained by The Crimson from the
Cambridge District Courthouse yesterday, “All of the individuals were
yelling ‘the FBI are murderers’ and ‘the FBI equals terrorism.’ They were
all yelling other slogans as well but kept repeating the two
aforementioned phrases the most.” <br><br>
However, video footage from the
event<a href="http://ksgaccman.harvard.edu/iop/events_forum_listview.asp?Type=PS">
available online</a> on the IOP’s Web siteshows that neither of these
phrases was ever uttered by the protesters. <br><br>
Instead, protesters yelled a series of statements that the students said
were carefully planned out and meant to be targeted towards specific
issues. <br><br>
Among the statements yelled by the protesters at the speech were: “We
will never forget the state terror waged by the FBI against peaceful
political dissidents. We will never forget the FBI’s role in
McCarthyism,” “Stop the Green scare, stop the unconstitutional repression
of environmental activists,” “Free the Panther Eight. Justice for Herman
Bell,” and “Close Guantanamo. End the lies, end the secrets.” <br><br>
Provost said that blanket statements were specifically avoided during the
protest. <br><br>
“There is very little a 21-year-old can do to protest the FBI,” she said
yesterday. “This is one of the only opportunities I feel like I had to
publicly express my dissent. So there is no way I would have used that
one opportunity to say the FBI are murderers.” <br><br>
The four students were charged with disturbing a public assembly, and are
scheduled for a pretrial hearing on May 10. If convicted, they face up to
a month in prison and up to a $50 fine. <br><br>
Among the errors found in the report, the order in which the protestors
shouted and were subsequently removed was incorrect. The report states
that Lee, Gould-Wartofsky, Roosevelt then Provost were removed in that
order. However, Roosevelt was the last taken out and Provost was directly
before her. <br><br>
Provost said that the police report exaggerated her shouting and said
that she did not continue to yell while being physically escorted from
the building, as the report indicated. <br><br>
“The report seems to try to make us sound like very irrational,
overzealous protestors,” she said. <br><br>
Officer Daniel Twomey filed the report last Thursday. <br><br>
Lee said she was “shocked and upset” over the discrepancies in the police
report. <br><br>
“Those discrepancies make it seem like we were resisting the officers
when we were in total compliance with the rules of the University and the
demands of the officers,” she said. <br><br>
Gould-Wartofsky and Provost have served as members of the Crimson staff.
Provost wrote her last news article in May 2004 and Gould-Wartofsky is a
former editorial columnist. <br><br>
As far as University disciplinary action, none of the students have been
contacted about appearing before the Ad Board, the College’s disciplinary
panel. However, last week, The Boston Globe quoted University spokesman
Joseph Wrinn as saying that the four students could face disciplinary
sanctions. <br><br>
John L. Ellison, secretary of the administrative board, declined to
comment. <br><br>
<br>
<b><a href="http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=518647">
http://www.thecrimson.com/article.aspx?ref=518647<br><br>
<br><br>
</a></b></font><x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
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