Victim of Formality

I can’t really muster much sympathy for these knoll protesters.

Some University of B.C. students want an investigation into police conduct after they spent almost 24 hours in jail.

“I was shocked. Jail was an experience I wouldn’t want to repeat,” student Maxim Winther said today.

“We felt like cattle.”

Winther was one of 19 people arrested Friday night after a demonstration against the development of a grassy knoll near the Student Union Building.

The gathering, which was initially peaceful, escalated into a confrontation between about 50 students and 25 members of the campus RCMP, Richmond RCMP and Vancouver police.

The 19 face charges of obstruction, resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer. They are to appear in court later this month.

So some students, attempting to save this artificial “knoll” from being demolished as part of a redevelopment scheme, start a bonfire during their protest.

When the fire fighters arrived to put the fire out, someone attempted to block the hydrant. When that person was arrested, some protesters tried to block the car in which they was sitting, and they were arrested.

There are a few questions, like why the person at 0:58 was grabbed. What bugs me is that people are acting so shocked that they were arrested at all. Nobody should be arresting anybody for shouting, but if you’re lying in front of a police car in an attempt to impede the arrest of another, you should expect to get in trouble. Furthermore, if you’re not going to get up, the police will help you get up.

Klein said students are worried.

“We want the charges dropped. We want to make sure no one ends up with a criminal record,” he said.

Even if the charges aren’t dropped, conviction isn’t a foregone conclusion. But what’s the argument here? Assaulting a police officer is all right if it’s in the service of a good cause? Even if you accept the moral argument, that’s not to say the legal consequences aren’t justified.

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 6th, 2008 at 11:55 pm and is filed under Politics, Vancouver. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.