Four Saint Louis University students spent the night in the Brentwood city jail Friday, Feb. 16 following an act of nonviolent civil disobedience in the offices of U.S. Representative Russ Carnahan. They and other protesters had assembled in the congressman’s lobby earlier in the day, refusing to leave until Carnahan promised to go on the record against further funding for the war in Iraq. Carnahan’s staff called the police, who arrested several of the protesters for trespassing.
SLU seniors Sara Wall, Chris Olliges, Megan Heeney and J.P. Murray, as well as freshman Rebecca Gorley, were arrested. The authorities released Olliges on $500 bail Friday evening, but the others remained incarcerated until 7 a.m. Saturday. Two members of a local Catholic Worker house also joined the protest and were taken into custody.
The protestors were affiliated with the Occupation Project, a national campaign of civil disobedience against the continuing war in Iraq. Friday’s protest was the fifth that the St. Louis chapter of the Occupation Project had organized since the beginning of February. Similar programs are under way in more than 20 other cities across the country.
The protesters said they felt that being arrested would draw attention to their cause and help them identify with the suffering of soldiers and civilians in Iraq.
“[Civil disobedience] draws attention because you really put yourself on the line . So many people have sacrificed so much for this war, I decided I should make a sacrifice of my own,” Wall said.
Glenn Campbell, Carnahan’s spokesman, said that the congressman is opposed to the war and hopes to bring it to a quick conclusion; however, the spokesman said that Carnahan is unwilling to absolutely say that he will vote against any additional appropriations for the war.
“We can appreciate the group’s position, and we want the war to end sooner than later, but we have an obligation to protect our troops. We can’t just assume that the group’s assessment that no additional funding is necessary is correct,” Campbell said.
Campbell says that Carnahan is against an escalation of the war, but that he may support funding that is needed to protect the troops and to provide for their safe return. Members of the Occupation Project, however, insist that the war must end now. They believe that current funds are sufficient to support an immediate withdrawal.
Campbell said the protestors had seriously disrupted the office, making a call to the police unavoidable.
“We have an obligation to make sure our office can function and that our other guests aren’t intimidated. We didn’t have much of an option,” Campbell said.
For their part, protestors said they were respectful and caused little disturbance, doing little besides quietly reading the names of fallen U.S. soldiers and Iraqi civilians.
Murray said that it was important “to bring home the reality of war” and to force Carnahan to take a stand against additional funding.
“I think that, like a lot of people, Carnahan feels really trapped by the terrible situation in Iraq, which makes it difficult to take a courageous stance,” Murray said.
