9 Students Arrested, 3 Jailed in Police Beatdown of Protestors of Iraq War in Binghamton, NY

Binghamton, NY- A peaceful student protest of the Iraq War on Tuesday March 18, 2008 turned violent, resulting in the arrests of nine students with three of them being thrown in jail.

Approximately 150 Binghamton students and townspeople had been marching on the Binghamton University campus in protest of the Iraq War. More people marched in previous years due to the death count which had almost reached 4,000 and the culmination of the fifth year that the U.S. troops had been fighting in Iraq. Sponsors of the campus protest marched including the student groups called Experimental Media Organization, Binghamton Political Initiative in addition to Veterans for Peace. The campus march went on for about two hours throughout campus until protesters decided to walk about a mile to the Army recruiting center.

Their march took them down a three lane highway, of which the protesters blocked all three lanes of traffic. Since they did not have a permit to protest off campus, their actions were considered unlawful. However, police officers followed behind the marchers in their squad cars, making sure that no students were run over by the backed up highway traffic. Protesters marched down the street chanting, "Down with the War" and "Give Peace a Chance."

The march then took a turn for the worst when a car crash occurred in the opposite lane of traffic. According to student and police reports, a car had slowed down to get a glimpse of the protest march and in doing so, got rear-ended by a car behind it. Due to the accident and a concern of safety, the police decided to put an end to the protest march and attempted to get the students off of the highway.

Police officers shouted from their vehicles over their loudspeakers for the students to get off of the road but due to the large capacity of the crowd still remaining of about 60 people, not everyone was able to hear the announcement. As the word started to spread throughout the crowd for students to get off of the highway and onto the grass nearby, police officers got out of their cars in an attempt to restore order.

Tensions had already been high when one police squad car had attempted to pass the protesters, only to have one protesting student in the back of the march purposely dart in front of the cop car. That student was promptly arrested although the police have also charged him with resisting arrest in addition to disorderly conduct, a charge that he has vehemently denied.

It is not quite clear what happened between protesters and police, but by all accounts the police used pepper spray or mace on the student protesters. The protesters maintain that they acted in accordance with everything the police told them to do and that it was a sheer case of police brutality. One student even said that as he moved over to the grass area after being sprayed with mace, a police officer then threw him to the concrete and rock ground as he was then handcuffed. Another student claimed to have been sprayed with mace right in the face from three feet away. One of the students who was arrested and thrown in jail claimed to have needed medical attention which the police refused him and had to call 911 to receive medical attention.

More horror stories from the protesters quickly emerged as one student claimed to have had the handcuffs put so tightly around his wrists that he was bleeding. That same student also had told cops that he was asthmatic and told police he had trouble breathing after being sprayed by pepper spray. Another student claimed to have asked the arresting police officer to read him his Miranda Rights, only to be denied and sarcastically told that this wasn't like television.

As the protest quickly got out of hand, dozens of police cars from the surrounding towns and throughout the county rushed to the scene. At one point, there were 35 squad cars with 50 officers at the scene. When order had finally been restored, a human barricade of police officers, three rows deep was visible.

In total, 9 students were taken away in cop cars. Three students were forced to spend the night in jail. $500 in bail was set for the arrested protesters. As the police investigation is under weigh, the arrested students and protesters still claim that they did nothing to incite the police violence or use of pepper spray. In the statement by the police, the officer stated that students were violently pushing and shoving the officers when the police tried to end the protest.

In a town hall forum held on Wednesday by the Binghamton University Student Association, the arrested students and protesters explained in their own words what happened during public comment. Over 100 people attend the town hall forum in support of the protesters. Video of the protest march can be seen on local Binghamton, NY television stations, including a 20 minute unedited live footage from the event from News Channel 34.