goodbye, first amendment

It has taken some time to write an entry about our stop at the University of the Cumberlands because the circumstances were so outrageous there that none of us honestly knew what to think about it in a whole, definitive way. And, I am still attempting to grasp the events wholly now.

As soon as we pulled up to the school (in Williamsburg, Kentucky), we saw a sea of police cars and policeMEN. Tons of them. Everywhere. We stood up getting ready to get off the bus. The first couple of riders got off and were quickly ushered back on to the bus by the police and administration. Then, a member of administration got on the bus with us and told us that we (Soulforce) had declined the offer to come on campus. This was completely untrue. We never decline an offer to come on to campus unless the offer is unfair. But, in this case, we never even declined!






We began counting the number of policemen and cars. We counted over 30 cars and just as many policemen, if not more. All of which were there because a group of self-professed nonviolent young adults were coming to walk onto a Christian campus and talk to students. We all get off the bus and lined up to begin a silent vigil outside the school, standing and waiting to be let on campus.

But, as soon as we begin lining up, the officers tell us we have to keep moving, that we are “impeding traffic” on the sidewalk when there is clearly at least 3 feet of sidewalk behind us. We walk up and down for a few moments and realize that it is entirely too difficult for all of us to keep moving as a group. So, we decide to break up into groups of 2 or more and stand a few feet a part from each other so that the police would not have a reason to tell us to keep moving. If we were not standing as a group but as a couple of individuals, we thought we would be okay. But no, none of us could stop walking. The police told us that even being in pairs and standing still was unacceptable.



When a few of us attempted to just stop and talk to students, we were quickly told to keep moving. A fellow rider, Curtis, and I stopped in front of a few students sitting on some steps just to chat. A police officer approached us, stood in between the students and us, and crossed his arms so that he was blocking us from speaking to the students. Curtis and I, shocked, just stepped to the side and continued our conversation. Then the officer said, “Go on now. Ya’ll students go on inside. There’s nothin to see out here.”



One of the riders, Jake, a former rider from last year… did stop completely on the sidewalk. Up until this point, we had been circling/pacing back and forth in front of students to continue talking to them. But, Jake stopped individually, and the police told him that he was impeding traffic as a sole citizen standing on the sidewalk. He replied that his first amendment rights were being violated, i.e. freedom of assembly, and they arrested him. Shortly thereafter, the police also arrested 2 Cumberlands students for doing the same thing.


jake


cumberlands student

So for several hours, we walked back and forth, up and down, the sidewalks with students who would walk with us and talk with us. I made an attempt to look at every police officer straight in the eye when I passed him, especially when the students were asking me why I could not stop and talk to them.



I walked about 10 miles that day up and down sidewalks talking to students.

Later that day we held a rally at the courthouse and a student who was expelled from the university for being gay spoke. We were also told that we could not stop on the sidewalks at the courthouse. We spoke to the mayor and had that changed. All in the meantime, a group of about 15 policemen stood in a huddle together in the middle of the sidewalk, forcing people to walk around them.



Protestors also showed up with signs. Many riders had never experienced that before--just the mere sight of seeing anti-gay protestors. Living in Arkansas essentially all of my life, it has always been a reality--an expected and integral part of activist work.





Reflecting on the trip, I am having a mix of outrage and understanding. And, I am truly learning to live and comprehend nonviolence. I now understand why we didn’t stop and protest the police for violating our first amendment rights. You must assess your goals, your intentions. We came to talk to students. If we are all arrested, how can we fulfill our mission? How can we bring light to the dark?

We later heard from an attendant at a gas station in Williamsburg that the police arrested a truck full of men with bats on their way to the courthouse that day. We would question the validity of this rumor if our Executive Director hadn’t received an e-mail from folks in Williamsburg telling us that they would meet us with bats in hand if we did indeed decide to come…