Double shame on us

If you have a 3 year old niece who likes writing on the sidewalk with chalk, be sure to keep her away from the U of A.

Apparently, writing on the sidewalk with chalk during a legal and peaceful protest is a criminal offense...a double offense.

Jacob Miller, a Geography graduate student (his name was released elsewhere, or we would not be identifying him here) was cited for criminal damage and disturbing an educational institution shortly after the rally ended today. Miller told the arizonaforeducation group that the arresting officer indicated that "the order to arrest him came from higher up." The citation is particularly outrageous considering that the sidewalk chalk was promptly removed by a group of janitors right after the crowd disbursed, meaning that no permanent damage of any kind was made.

Is the administration trying to quash protests? This is highly disturbing, considering that the rally was targeted at the state of education in Arizona in general and was meant to show solidarity with the UC walkouts. Although the transformation process was criticized, this was certainly not the only focus of the group.

Well, whoever ordered the arrest just turned what looked to us like a pretty medium-sized, uneventful, peaceful gathering into a major hotbed. Just another example of how attempts to intimidate protesters will only result in drawing more attention to their cause.

Congratulations, whoever you are. You just turned this story into front page news. The AZ Daily Star has posted a web report already! Keep an eye out for the Daily Wildcat to report on the incident tomorrow. More details on the event can also be found at http://www.arizonaforeducation.com/

***Update: The protest and resulting arrest were covered on KGUN9 and KVOA4 news tonight.

From the KGUN9 report: "Steve Sherick, a criminal defense attorney in Tucson said, "It seems to me that the arrest and prosecution is pretty ridiculous." Sherick also believes the charges should be dropped, in violation of first amendment rights. "If you look at the cases under the first amendment, the public sidewalk is where people have the highest level of protection and free expression... let him draw his picture on the sidewalk. Let them have their demonstration, and as long as they're peaceful and not disruptive, forget about it. Let it go."

Sallygradstudent would also like to congratulate Jacob Miller on his very articulate interviews.