One of our Daily Theology guest contributors, Eric Martin was recently arrested in a nonviolent action to support students at the University of Virginia. Eric is a doctoral candidate in theology at Fordham University. He works closely with the Catholic Worker community and is committed to nonviolence and racial justice. . .
On April 25, Jason Kessler, the organizer of the August 2017 Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, entered the University of Virginia Law Library. The presence of Kessler upset staff and students. In August Kessler brought neo-Nazis to campus who beat students and employees with lit torches, and one week before he confronted students who appeared Jewish and told them Jews and women should not be at the law school.
Martin responded to a call a community leader and arrived to see 35-40 people staring at a private study space given to Kessler, apparently guarded by several police officers. . Several students told Martin they did not feel safe in the vicinity of a white supremacist who had already brought violence against students on campus. Martin watched students asking law school personnel why Kessler was allowed on campus and receiving no clear answers. He called the president’s office to ask whether the president was aware of the situation and the receptionist hung up on him before he could finish the question.
Distressed that over eight months had passed since the initial attacks and even after Kessler harassed students the university had taken no action except to give him police protection from the students, Martin decided to enter the room where Kessler was studying and read. Careful not to harass, annoy, touch, intimidate, mock, speak to, or even look at Kessler, Martin simply sat down and began reading The Rise and Fall of Apartheid (part of his dissertation research) across the table.
When ordered to leave by employees, Martin replied that they would have to decide who the threat at that table was, and that he would leave if Kessler were escorted out. Stephen Parr, the law school’s chief administrative officer, ordered police to arrest him, and he received the ban from campus that students had long demanded be given to Kessler, who continued to study in the office with police guard while Martin was cuffed and sent to jail. On April 27, Kessler received a 4-year ban for offenses predating this incident. Martin faces up to a year in jail for trespassing. . . .: