Home  News Repression Repression at Pace University
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Repression at Pace University |
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Written by Lauren Giaccone
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Monday, March 06 2006 |
Two students were detained and questioned by
Secret Service for almost an hour after calling former President Clinton a
war criminal during his recent visit to speak at Pace University in New
York City. In addition, police also questioned several other
antiwar students and collected their I.D.'s. The two students who were
detained are currently facing an investigation by the Secret Service and need
your support.
photo: Thomas Good (SDS/War
Resisters League NYC)
Defend free
speech at Pace University
Sign the petition (click
here)
To: Pace University
Dear David Caputo, President of Pace
University:
We are outraged that your school is charging two
students, Brian Kelly and Lauren Giaccone, with potential expulsion from school
for engaging in a peaceful protest.
In the interest of free speech, we demand that you drop
ALL charges against Brian and Lauren, and that your administration cease any
harassment of the Pace University Campus Antiwar Network, Students for a
Democratic Society, and any other activist organizations.
Sincerely,
the undersigned
│ Sign the petition (click
here)
Contact Pace
University
Pace University
President's Office:
David A. Caputo, President
212-346-1097
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Pace
University Hotline:
1-866-PAC-E001
(1-866-722-3001)
Send letters of support to Pace University
student activists:
Brian Kelly-
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and Lauren Giaccone-
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Great news,
Letters of support have come in from Cindy Sheehan,
Camilo Mejia, Monica and Kevin Benderman, Ward Reilly and many
more! click here to read
them all (courtesy of Traprock Peace
Center)
Antiwar Students Harrassed by Police, Secret Service,
After Calling Former President Clinton a 'War
Criminal'
Monday, March 06 2006 @ 10:30 PM PST
You can view Clinton's Reaction by clicking here:
http://www.leftist.ws/media/clintonwarcriminal.swf
Today, the national media has picked up the story of two
students heckling President Clinton. This is a press release from the two
students with their side of the story.
Lauren Giaccone and Brian Kelly are students at the Pace
University Downtown campus and participated in the action against President Bill
Clinton on March 5th, 2006.
Brian Kelly can be reached at 845-649-2146 or
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Lauren Giaccone can be
reached at 917-597-3203
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Lauren Giaccone and Brian Kelly are part of a larger group,
Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) as well as Campus Anti-War Network
(CAN). Both are leftist groups. SDS is a relatively new group. It was a radical
group in the 60's but has recently reformed.
CAN has been active in protesting the war for several years now.
Both students originally had formed a picket outside of the event on Sunday but
were met with resistance by Pace University officials. The students were then
allowed to go inside to the event after their banners were confiscated.
Inside the event, Lauren Giaccone and Brian Kelly stood up and
called President Clinton a war criminal and cited the atrocities he committed
during his time in office (i.e. Rwanda, Sudan, Iraq, Bosnia) It was at this time
that the two students were forcibly removed by Westchester police and brought to
a room within the campus where Secret Service was waiting. The students were
harassed by police and Secret Service agents who called them "clowns" and
threatened to send them to the hospital for a psychiatric evaluation that one
officer promised "would take at least 72 hours." The students were searched and
had their photos taken several times by both police and Secret Service.
The students were detained for about 40 minutes and questioned
about their ties to SDS. When the students refused to give information like
their Social Security numbers, the officers would threaten them with statements
such as "We can keep you here for 3 days." The Secret Service also tried to get
the students to waive their patient/doctor privilege by having them sign a form
that would allow the agents to investigate if they were on any medication or if
they had been to a psychiatrist; however, the students refused. The police then
demanded that the students give the names of the other students that they had
traveled to the event with. They also wanted to know what types of cars they
traveled in. The students refused to give this information.
The other SDS and CAN students were found waiting for their
friends in the lobby, where the police took their IDs even though they had
nothing to do with the action. The students were questioned about a letter that
the Pace Chapter of SDS sent to the President of the University denouncing the
invitation to President Clinton. The students were then loaded into a van with
an officer and driven to their cars where police illegally searched the
students' cars. The search was not consented to.
The students Lauren Giaccone and Brian Kelly would like to make
it clear that they do not support Democrats or Republicans. Their action was in
response to the growing militarism of American presidents. The Pace Chapters of
SDS and CAN denounce the actions of President Caputo, the Westchester Police
Department, the Mount Pleasant Police Department, and the Secret Service.
Currently, the two students are facing an investigation by the Secret
Service.
Brian is member of the Campus Antiwar Network, the New York City
Green Party, Students for a Democratic Society, and the national Campus
Greens.
Lauren is a member of the Students for a Democratic Society,
Campus Antiwar Network, New York Metro Alliance of Anarchists, and the
Industrial Workers of the World.
Brian Kelly can be reached at 845-649-2146 or
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Lauren Giaccone can be
reached at 917-597-3203 or
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Letter from Pace University
Students
Dear
Friends: Take action to defend free
speech!
Yesterday we (Brian Kelly and Lauren Giaccone) were
threatened with disciplinary actions ranging from warnings to expulsion: all for
holding a peaceful rally, handing out educational flyers about Bill Clinton's
war crimes, and holding regular CAN/SDS meetings at our school.
Yesterday, the Pace University Dean of Students disrupted
our regular joint Campus Antiwar Network (C.A.N.) and Students for a Democratic
Society (S.D.S.) meeting citing a university policy against "unrecognized
student organizations" reserving or using university space. This occurred after
an event we held on Sunday where I (Brian Kelly) called Bill Clinton a "war
criminal" with my friend and fellow anti-war activist Lauren Giaccone, citing
his atrocities around the world during his presidency. We were not charged with
any violation; however, we were detained and threatened by both Secret Service
agents and various police officers.
For more information about what happened at the event,
including the threats made to us and the illegal searches that occurred please
visit the following link:
http://leftist.ws/2006/03/08/why-i-called-bill-clinton-a-war-criminal/
What I saw yesterday at our meeting:
Several members of S.D.S./C.A.N. and I were sitting in our
student union when the Dean of Students walked over to us escorted by a Pace
University security officer. She sat down and preceded to showed us a copy of
Pace S.D.S.'s website (http://www.studentsforademocraticsociety.org/pace).
She said we were violating university policy by meeting at the school as an
"unrecognized organization." Her claim holds little weight as we had filled out
the paperwork well in advance of the date of today's meeting and still had not
heard any response from the university.
We have held both C.A.N. and S.D.S. meetings before
without any hassle; that is until Sunday's demonstration happened.
When I got back to my dorm I found:
An envelope from my university on the ground near my front
door. Inside the envelope was a letter from Pace stating that they are pursuing
disciplinary actions against me for the following:
1. Failure to register a
rally
2. Violation of distribution and
solicitation policy
3. Reservation of
university space by an unrecognized organization
These charges are an attempt to stop us from voicing our
opinions and exercising our constitutional rights to free speech, press, and
assembly. Pace's message to students and the community is clear: We do not
recognize constitutional rights.
Any of these charges can carry penalties ranging from
verbal warnings to expulsion.
We believe the only chance to challenge these charges is
to make sure that Pace knows that the world is watching them.
We are challenging President Caputo and the University not
only on this instance, but also on their attack on civil liberties around the
university, their enforced apolitical atmosphere, their union-busting
activities, and the presence of Homeland Security agents on campus.
This coming Monday the president of PACE, David A. Caputo,
will be delivering a "State of the University" speech at 2:30 pm at the Downtown
campus. The Pace Campus Antiwar Network and Students for a Democratic Society
Chapters will be holding a picket in front of the University starting at 2:00
pm.
Perhaps President Caputo is not aware that his university,
as a institution of higher education, should be devoted to protecting free
speech, not curtailing it.
From the Pace website:
"On behalf of the entire Pace community, I would
like to welcome you.
I hope that our site and its many
informative pages will answer your
questions and give you
a sense of the many programs and activities
at Pace. Don't
hesitate to contact the President's Office at 212-346-1097,
or
email us at:
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. I
welcome your suggestions and look
forward to greeting you in
person."
David A. Caputo
President
And this:
How can we help? If you need an answer to a
pressing problem, can't
seem to find the appropriate person to
help you, or want to bring
something to our attention, please
use the Hotline. We'll do our best
to get you in touch with the
appropriate office or person as well as
assist in any way we
can. Also, don't hesitate to use the Hotline to
tell us good
news too!
1-866-PAC-E001
We look forward to hearing from you.
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David A.
Caputo
President
I submit to you that he needs to hear our concerns.
Please give a call or drop him an email and share your desire to see justice
done.
Please consider joining us Monday at 2:30 at the Downtown
campus. Lauren and I need your support. We both are committed activists in the
community and appreciate any support you can give. If you want to help, we need
fliers designed and printed letting New Yorkers know why we are picketing and
signs and banners. We need to get the word out about what is happening at
Pace. Please join us in these efforts.
Please contact us to send letters of support that we can
give to President Caputo, or if you would like to volunteer to help combat
Pace's repression of student dissent:
Brian Kelly-
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845-649-2146
Lauren Giaccone-
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917-597-3203
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