Anti-War Actions on 26 Campuses, Rochester Action Violently Repressed!

On Wednesday October 7, students on 26 campuses across the United States protested eight long years of war against and occupation of the people of Afghanistan. Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), a nation-wide student organization committed to activism for peace, justice and equality, organized the protest.

Read the full reportback on our Anti-War Blog - http://sdsantiwar.wordpress.com/

Rochester SDS has received a great deal of media attention for the violent repression of the Funk the War they organized as a part of the Day of Action.

This is the statement that Rochester SDS created as well to document what happened:
"On Wednesday October 7, 2009 Rochester Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) called for a protest of 8 years of war and occupation in Afghanistan. This protest was coordinated in conjunction with other chapters of SDS throughout the country as a national day of action. At
5:30pm the march left from Washington Square Park and headed up to Main Street in downtown Rochester. At Main Street, the march headed west.

At about 5:45 pm the peaceful march was disrupted by approximately 30 police cars. The police made their first arrest by wading through the group of protesters to pick out the only African-American student in the vicinity. This is a blatant example of racism and discrimination
on behalf of the Rochester Police Department. A press videographer who was taping the arrest was attacked by police, wrestled to the ground, and arrested. The police began to attack and arrest community members and students, nearly all of whom were standing on the sidewalk. The police shoved and hit people with clubs, used pepper spray, slammed people into the ground, and punched protesters. 12 people were arrested in total. At least three protesters sustained
injuries; two were hospitalized and received stitches.

Despite certain media reports of a protestor throwing a drum at police, we are not aware of any action of this kind and we strongly suspect the police fabricated the accusation to justify their
egregious actions. The police claim the alleged drum thrower was charged with “obstructing governmental administration,” yet the only person charged with “obstructing governmental administration” was arrested while filming and did not even have a drum. In addition, police have also claimed that they acted the way they did because protesters failed to let a fire truck through an intersection. This is untrue and video posted on rochester.indymedia.org shows protesters backing on to the sidewalk and letting the fire truck through.

Stay tuned for more details to come, including a press conference, and a comprehensive statement about the events of October 7th. "