Protestors arrested for disruptions
Students cited for speaking over time limit
By Phillip Carter
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
SAN FRANCISCO –Demonstrations erupted at yesterday’s Board of
Regents’ meeting as debate continued over whether to rescind last
July’s vote to end affirmative action in the University of
California.
UC police arrested 10 students yesterday at the beginning of the
contentious regents’ meeting in which a motion to reinstate
affirmative action was tabled.
An unusually large number of police – 258 state and local
officers – were on hand for the meeting in anticipation of Gov.
Pete Wilson’s attendance.
The first of the 10 students arrested was UC Student Association
chair Kris Kohler, a UC Santa Barbara student, who was officially
cited and released for "disturbing a public meeting."
Kohler was led out of the meeting and handcuffed after exceeding
the 60-second time limit created by Board Chairman Clair
Burgener.
After speaking for almost four minutes, Burgener ordered police
officers to escort Kohler from the room.
After hearing this, Kohler abandoned his speech, opting to seal
his mouth with a bright orange sticker declaring "Diversity in
Education," and held his arms out to the officer to be
handcuffed.
Among the other nine students arrested were three from UC San
Diego, two from UC Riverside, two from UC Davis and another student
from UC Santa Barbara.
Following the initial arrest, student demonstrators came back
into the meeting with their faces covered in white paint and
stickers over their mouths, attempting to symbolize the "whitifying
effect" and silencing of the students by the Board of Regents,
explained Kimi Lee, the UC Student Association executive
director.
Since May, each meeting of the regents has been disrupted in
some fashion by protesters. However, this marks the first time that
mass arrests were made – police at past meetings have emptied the
room rather than arrest students or community members.
At the regents’ July meeting, just five arrests were made
despite the presence of more than 1,000 protesters.
In addition to the initial 10 students’ arrest, UC Irvine
student Cesar Cruz was arrested later in the meeting for disrupting
the discussion which followed Wilson’s remarks.
Notorious for having threatened Regent Ward Connerly’s life at
the July meeting, Cruz was also part of a hunger strike last fall
at UC Irvine in which five students fasted for 13 days to call for
the reinstatement of affirmative action.
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