Arrested

On April 18th, I was arrested. This normally wouldn’t be big news, but the situation arround which I was arrested brings up serious questions. I was arrested at Kutztown University, where I am a student, because I decided to try to liven the mood after the Life and Liberty Ministries began to upset students. They came on campus with signs that featured aborted fetuses, lists of people who will be going to hell, and catchy phrases such as “JESUS OR HELL”. I have friends who are gay, and these people who came onto Kutztown University’s campus without permission or prior notice were upsetting students all over campus.I decided not to simply let them upset people, so I went to the bookstore and purchased a posterboard and sharpie marker and made my own sign. It said “Equal Rights for Robots”, a saying I thought no one would be able to take the wrong way. The protesters had been on campus for about two hours at this time, and the whole time the police were protecting them from the students. To my knowledge, the protesters at this time had not been asked to leave. With my sign in hand, I walked out and waved my sign in the air.

I had some small support from students around me, as most saw the attempt at humor to lighten a rough situation. However, within about two or three minutes a police officer came over to me and told me to come with him. I was dropped off at the police area, searched and taken to the local precinct where I was held for an hour and a half. One of the protesters was held there with me, but I do not know why he was arrested.

I was charged with Disorderly Conduct with intent to “alarm or annoy” and in the citation it says I was “warned repeatedly” to stop. Neither is true, and when I pointed this out to the officer who wrote it out for me he said something along the lines of I don’t care and made a comment along the lines of tell it to the judge. I plead not guilty and face a three hundred dollar fine or up to 90 days in jail if found guilty.

After it happened, I tried to contact the local news and the school newspaper. Only one newspaper bother to contact me, the others didn’t believe me.

The Morning Call – http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-kutztown-04182007,0,2550072.story

WFMZ – http://www.wfmz.com/view/?id=86577

The Reading Eagle – It’s in the web archive, and you need to buy access to it.

The Keystone, the school newspaper was initially interested in running my side of the story, but then quickly backed down from it when the school decided not to support me. In fact, according to one student who spoke to school officials right after my arrest, the school had me arrested because “We didn’t want any jokers.” Now, I cannot verify that quote myself, but this student is one I would trust to tell me the truth.This is what happened, and here are some pictures to verify the truth.

Their Picture Page 1

Their Picture Page 2

Their Picture Page 3

Their Picture Page 4

Edit:I’ve been receiving emails suggesting I start taking donations. I’ve even had a donation sent to my email, REDACTED through PayPal. I really do appreciate it, but don’t think of this as begging. If I do not need the donations for my legal fees or fine, I will donate the money to a group like the ACLU which would use the money to help others who got into crappy situations with the police.So once again, if you really want to donate, use PayPal to sent it to REDACTED, but only if you really want to. Any extras will be sent to a legal defense fund.Thank you everyone for your support.

No need to donate anymore. It’s been long enough.

EDIT: I’ve posted another update, https://hngkong.wordpress.com/2007/07/02/new-updates/