Six CUNY students who were taking part in ongoing protests against Gen. David Petraeus's honorary teaching position were violently arrested and now face a string of charges.
Firedoglake's Dissenter blog reports that "the criminal complaint filed [Wednesday] against the students indicates they were charged with disorderly conduct, riot, resisting arrest and obstruction of governmental administration."
While the "riot" charge may sound extreme, it is inscribed in current New York law that such a charge can be filed for "tumultuous" behavior "intended to create public alarm." The Dissenter reported on the groundswell of support for the students following their reportedly violent arrests:
Faculty and staff from CUNY and other universities in the U.S. signed on to a statement expressing “outrage at the violent and unprovoked actions by the NYPD against CUNY students peacefully protesting at the appointment of war criminal David Petraeus as a lecturer at the Macaulay Honors College.”
“We deplore the use of violence and brutal tactics against CUNY students and faculty who were protesting outside the college. It is unacceptable for the university to allow the police to violently arrest students,” the statement declared.
The statement further explained, “We emphatically support the efforts of these CUNY students to resist the attempts by the U.S. government and the CUNY administration to turn the university into an infamous “war college” with the appointment of Petraeus. Petraeus is responsible for countless deaths and innumerable destruction in Iraq and Afghanistan as a war commander and chief of the CIA.”
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