Posted on 04/20/2007 10:39:52 AM PDT by Thunder90
Around 25 students protesting funding for the war in Iraq spent an uncomfortable, cold and edgy night in the office of Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., Wednesday and were forced out by Madison police early Thursday morning.
Only one lingering protester who refused to leave the office was arrested, charged with disorderly conduct and delivered a $424 fine, according to Madison Police Department Public Information Officer Mike Hansen.
After the organizers broke up, several Campus Antiwar Network members followed the individual where they continued to display their message.
“A group of us went down to the jail just to show support for him and had a sign to show the reason we were there,” CAN member and UW junior Zach Heise said. “It said, ‘Herb Kohl would rather have his constituents arrested than meet with us.’”
After rallying at Library Mall Wednesday, protesters proceeded down State Street to Kohl’s office where they made several demands to bring troops home and stop funding, as well as a personal meeting with the senator.
According to CAN member and UW graduate student Elizabeth Wrigley-Field, the peaceful gathering took a stark turn sometime during the night when the 25 remaining members were corralled in a small room and separated from their belongings, including water and medicine.
“What happened really started last night when at a certain point in the evening, Kohl’s staff took an increasingly harsh stance towards us,” Wrigley-Field said. “To be honest, it seemed to be motivated out of spite.”
However, Kohl’s press secretary Joe Bonfiglio said any measures taken by MPD and Federal Protective Services were in the best interest of safety of both staff and protesters.
“Everything our staff did during the protest and through the night was trying to accommodate the protesters and the protest,” Bonfiglio said. “Unfortunately, it became unorganized and aggressive, at one point you could say that the staff felt that their safety was threatened.”
Bonfiglio added that the protest was “expletive-laden and aggressive towards staff and security” and the police removed the group Thursday morning only after calls from other businesses in the building that were disrupted by the noise.
Heise said Kohl’s staff went back on their word after initially ensuring them of no police removal of protesters.
“They told us they have a policy to not arrest protesters,” Heise said. “Obviously, they’ve changed that policy.”
Earlier in the night Bonfiglio said CAN members negotiated for a videoconference with Kohl, but were not satisfied and continued the sit-in despite a written message from the senator.
Bonfiglio pointed out that several protesters had never attempted to contact the senator for a meeting before the event.
“The senator is accessible, and we do our best to accommodate folks who want to speak,” Bonfiglio said. “There have been protests in the past, but they have never gotten to this point.”
Laurel Franklin, CAN member and UW senior said Kohl is tough to get a hold of and only visits with constituents once a week.
“I’ve called in a couple times but personally, I’ve not tried to set up an appointment,” Franklin said. “I’ve talked to people trying to get a hold for him for a year — I didn’t think it was worth my time.”
PING
Wrigley Field, please report to the Monkey Bars for your 2 o’clock Atomic Wedgie.
Awwwwww, poor babies..........don't they know it's because of Globull Warming?...............and I bet their night was a damn sight better than one of my Marine Corps brothers night in IRAQ! Spent just so they can be free enough to be total morons!..........
Perfectly said. Thank you.
God bless our troops!
Hey Senator, you are who you hang with. You let the moonbats spew hate and lies to get the Dems in power. Now they want to be paid.
Kohl and the Dems probably thought they were immune from this harassment. Now this left wing monster they created is coming after them too. How ironic.
HA when I read that about the uncomfortable night... I also immediately thought of my son, the Marine, who is going to Iraq next week... and all of his brothers and sisters in arms.
Semper Fi and God Bless our Troops... and God educate our other confused young people.
May they reap the rewards of their own quagmire.
According to CAN member and UW graduate student Elizabeth Wrigley-Field, ...
her parents could have named her Ivy
A HS classmate of my daughter’s (Class ‘05) and her first “boyfriend” in Middle School, joined the USMC after HS, just came back from Iraq. He is a totally different person than the kid I knew. He had been in firefights and seen death and destruction of comrades, even his own vehicle hit and his buddy killed. Thank God he came home safe.....I pray that yours does, too, as I hope all of our young men and women will, eventually.....Just be aware, that if he hasn’t been there before, when he comes back, safe and sound please God, he will have a different outlook than when he left.......
Very true. God bless our troops.
Thank you for your comments. It will be my son’s 2nd trip. He was in a bad car accident in December 2005, was told he was not deployable. When he got the health clearance last fall, he transferred 3 times to different batallions in order to get into one headed to Iraq.
3 others of his HS buddies also are Marines. One did 3 Iraq tours, spent birthdays #19, 20, and 21 there. My son spent his 20th birthday crossing border from Kuwait into Iraq. You are right about the changes in their outlook.
It makes it impossible for me to have any sympathy for these college students protesting and complaining about being uncomfortable in the process....
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