[Mb-civic] Student Maced By Police Now Banned from Campus

[William Swiggard]

From: counter-recruitment at yahoogroups.com 
[mailto:counter-recruitment at yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Charles
Sent: Saturday, October 01, 2005 1:36 PM
To: Counter Recruitment
Subject: [counter-recruitment] Student who was Maced By Police is Now 
Banned from Campus!

URGENT UPDATE-PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY!

Student who was Maced By Police is Now Banned from Campus!

http://www.traprockpeace.org/counter_recruitment/

At approximately 1pm on Sept 30, Sgt. Richard H. Wheeler and State 
Trooper Vasquez delivered a notice to Charles T. Peterson at the 
doorstep of his home in Springfield, MA.

Charles was the student who was sprayed in the face with mace by Officer 
Scott Landry at the protest against military recruiters at Holyoke 
Community College on September 29. 

(Go to campusantiwar.net to see photos and read our previous statement 
about the police brutality )

The notice read: "Because of your conduct on the property of Holyoke 
Community College, your presence is no longer desired at Holyoke 
Community College, its property or buildings. Your failure to abide by 
said trespass notice will result in your arrest and court prosecution 
for trespassing. This notice will remain in effect untill [sic] revoked 
in writing by the Holyoke Community College Police Department."

 This is in clear violation of the Colleges own stated policy that 
students, "have the right to procedural due process in grievance and 
disciplinary hearings." [Right #6, p22, HCC Policy Guide 05/06]

As Charles is employed on campus, this restraining order will keep him 
not only from getting an education, but also from working. 

Thus far, Charles has not been contacted by any member of the 
Administration, besides the campus police. So he has had his education 
and his job taken away from him with no explanation and no opportunity 
to appeal.

It's worth repeating here that Officer Scott Landry, the officer who put 
Charles in a headlock and sprayed mace in his face, is also the Advisor 
to the College Republicans at HCC. The College Republicans were also 
present at the protest, chanting behind the police line to incite the 
police to attack students. 

On campus, the student body has become frighteningly polarized, and many 
students who were at the protest opted out of attending classes today 
for fear of harassment.

Professor Mark Clinton, the faculty advisor to the Anti War Coalition 
has been summoned to see the Vice President of Academic Affairs on 
Monday afternoon. The Office of the Vice President would not inform 
Clinton's dean of the agenda for the meeting.

Yesterday, Professor Mark Clinton's daughter was called an "ugly 
communist bitch" by a fellow student.

 Cindy Sheehan is scheduled to visit HCC in November. We will be trying 
to contact her to notify her of the recent police brutality and to ask 
her to make a statement in support of students.  If anyone reading this 
can help us get in touch with her, please let us know  (our email is at 
the bottom of this statement).

Amazingly enough, a George Mason University student was assaulted by 
police on the same day as the HCC protest. Tariq Khan, a 
Pakistani-American and Air Force Veteran, wore a sign reading, 
"Recruiters tell lies" while standing in front of a US Marine recruiting 
table. After being harassed by ROTC members, the JC Operations 
Representative told Tariq that he had no right to voice his opinion 
without a permit and to leave. When Tariq peaceably refused, campus 
police violently assaulted him, choking him, pushing him, and slamming 
him against a stage.

In Wisconsin, students at UW Madison were threatened with arrest and 
forced to dismantle their protest against the presence of the Air Force, 
CIA, and Marines at the College's career fair. They were told that they 
were violating the Administration's codes for protesting when in fact 
they were in no way breaching any part of it.

We are sticking with our former demands (see statement of September 29 
on campusantiwar.net) but we would like to add the following:

 ---That the restraining order against Charles T. Peterson be lifted 
immediately so he can continue his education and return to his job.

---That an impartial investigation be conducted into Officer Scott 
Landry's role in the battery at the September 29 protest-- given Officer 
Landry's dual role as armed police officer AND student advisor to the 
College Republicans.

For the over 700 of you who have already called the school THANK YOU!  
Please keep the pressure on. Please keep calling. We are hoping to flood 
the school with calls on Monday.

Sincerely,

Members of the Anti War Coalition at Holyoke Community College

Please call Holyoke Community College to register you concerns.

President 
Messner                                                                  
1-413-552-2222

Officer Scott Landry,
Campus Police/ Advisor to the College Republicans          
1-413-552-2048

Vivian Ostrowsky, Student Activities Coordinator                
1-413-552-2418 
 

 ****
Additional Statements from members of the Anti War Coalition at HCC

One leading member of the AWC, whose brother was permanently injured in 
Iraq last year, stated:

"I was there to speak for my brother. He was wounded in Iraq. He's a 
different person since he came back, it's a different person looking at 
me, more like my little brother than my big brother. He may never be the 
same, and he may never open up and tell me what happened in Iraq. But I 
believe he fought for lies, and I believe he was lied to when he joined 
the military. He was promised money for college and a chance to see the 
world. But he went to Iraq, and he wasn't the same when he came back.

Shinah Santiago, an AWC Steering Committee member stated, "I think it's 
absolutely ridiculous.  It's totally unjust to ban him from campus 
without any kind of hearing or anything. And to have one of the officers 
who assaulted us serve the papers was part of their effort to intimidate 
us. They think he's our leader, but everyone in the AWC is a leader, and 
none of us is going to be intimidated.

Emails of support and solidarity  can be sent to:

info.hcc-awc at hotmail.com <mailto:info.hcc-awc at hotmail.com>

###
Charles Jenks
Chair of Advisory Board and Web Manager
Traprock Peace Center
103A Keets Road
Deerfield, MA 01342
413-773-7427
fax 413-773-7507
http <http://www.traprockpeace.org>://www.traprockpeace.org 
<http://www.traprockpeace.org>

 

 




-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.islandlists.com/pipermail/mb-civic/attachments/20051001/aad1099a/attachment.htm