Eight students, seven from Brown and one from the Rhode Island School of Design, were arrested Thursday for protesting the war in Iraq at an Army National Guard recruitment office on Weybosset Street. More than 20 people participated in the protest, which was organized by Providence Students for a Democratic Society as part of a week of events for the fifth anniversary of the U.S. occupation in Iraq.
The protest, which began at noon, featured eight students occupying the inside of the office, with supporters chanting outside the building. Students inside were arrested and charged with the obstruction of lawful pursuits, according to a police report. The protesters inside conveyed their intent to protest peacefully to a few recruitment officers, saying, "We're not going to engage you in any conflict," according to Brown SDS member Susan Beaty '10, who was among those arrested.
The students sat inside the office for over an hour and blocked the front door before being arrested around 1:30, Beaty said, adding that the recruitment officers called the police only when they realized the door was blocked.
The eight arrests were an SDS "record," Secondo said, which "we're very proud of."
The eight students then spent about five hours in a public safety complex before being released. Their arraignment date is set for April 1.
Though the protest was peaceful, its methods were more direct than in previous rallies, Secondo said. "We've seen over the past four years that writing letters to congressmen, voting in 2006 (for an anti-war candidate) hasn't been successful," Secondo said. "The actions today speak louder than those in the past."
Other protests this week included a march downtown on Wednesday and a "funk the war" dance party on Tuesday.
Secondo said SDS chose the recruitment office because it "is the place where the military intersects with community," adding that the protesters wanted to "pull politicians out of the equation."
In addition to chanting outside, SDS members read aloud some of the names of the nearly 4,000 American soldiers who have died in Iraq since the 2003 occupation began.
