Four Saint Louis University students who had participated in an act of nonviolent civil disobedience in the offices of U.S. Representative Russ Carnahan accepted a plea bargain on Tuesday, April 10.
Rather than being charged with trespassing, the four protesters will receive parking or littering citations.
A fifth SLU student involved in the protest has not decided whether to accept the plea bargain and may go to a jury trial this fall.
The SLU students entered Carnahan’s office around noon on Friday, Feb. 16, and announced that they would not leave until the congressman went on the record against further funding for the war in Iraq.
Carnahan’s staff called the Brentwood police, who arrived shortly and arrested them. Four students-seniors Sara Wall, Megan Heeney and J.P. Murray, and freshman Rebecca Gorley-spent the night in jail, while senior Chris Olliges was released Friday evening on $500 bail. The students were affiliated the Occupation Project, a national campaign of civil disobedience to end the war in Iraq.
Several other groups of protesters associated with Occupation Project have been charged with trespassing after engaging in acts of civil disobedience in the offices of Carnahan and U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill.
Olliges, one of the protesters who opted for a plea bargain, said that he was following his attorney’s advice.
“If I went to trial, my lawyer said that no substantial evidence is needed to prove someone guilty of trespassing. They essentially take the cop’s word for it. My lawyer suspected I’d be found guilty,” Olliges said.
After accepting the plea bargain, the protesters will now have to pay a small fine and must perform community service.
Olliges, for instance, will pay a $25 fine and will spend 25 hours working at New Roots Urban Farm, an organization focusing on sustainable agriculture in north St. Louis.
Bill Quick, head of the team of attorneys defending the Occupation Project protesters pro bono, said that plea bargains are beneficial for both sides.
They provide for a mutually acceptable resolution and avoid the unpredictable outcome of a trial.
One of the SLU students, Megan Heeney, is considering refusing the plea bargain and heading to trial instead.
Her trial would be sometime between September and November of this year.
Unlike the other protesters, Heeney said, she knows that she will be in the St. Louis area in the fall.
She also said that going to court would give her another chance to take a stand for her beliefs.
“Going to a jury trial will be another opportunity to talk about what’s going on in Iraq . I would try to convince the jury of the rightness of our cause,” Heeney said.
