User login

Click the Donate button below to make a secure online donation to the Rutgers 3 Legal Defense Fund.

About the Rutgers 3

Three Rutgers University students are being prosecuted in relation to the 2008 Rutgers Walkout Against the War: Suzan Sanal, Arwa Ibrahim, and fellow Students for a Democratic Society member Erik Straub.

The Rutgers Walkout was one of the largest campus protests to occur in commemoration of the 5^th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. The Walkout brought together about 600 Rutgers students and supporters, who walked out on their daily routine and rallied in protest of the occupation. The protest culminated in a march, with an estimated 300 participants, that took a path through the streets of downtown New Brunswick, NJ and onto nearby highway Route 18.

Despite the fact that the action involved hundreds of students, police singled out only three for prosecution. Furthermore, while for the second year in a row the protest yielded no injuries, no arrests, no altercations between police and protesters and no incidents of vandalism or property damage, the New Brunswick Police Department is charging the three students with 'recklessly creating … a hazardous or physically dangerous condition by an act which serves no legitimate purpose.' This comes despite the media widely reporting the Walkout to have been peaceful and ignores the fact that police are on public record as having been "pleased" with the nature of the event.

If convicted, all three students could face up to 30 days in jail and $500 in fines. This does not include court costs and legal fees. We are putting out a call for support and solidarity with the Rutgers 3, who are being prosecuted for peacefully opposing the unjust war in Iraq. Please help us by contributing to the Rutgers 3 Defense Fund. You may donate securely online by clicking on the PayPal button on this page.

The website will be updated regularly as new information becomes available (check out the Announcements section). Currently we have available media stories about the Rutgers Walkout, press releases regarding the Walkout and the Rutgers 3, an interview with Suzan Sanal and Erik Straub on WBAI Radio New York, first-hand accounts of the Walkout and follow-up rally in support of the Rutgers 3, and a report-back on our success in pressuring the New Brunswick City Council to take a public stand against the war in Iraq. Expect more to come.

Sign the online petition to support the Rutgers 3 here!

Thu Apr 24, 2008 at 08:08:53 AM PDT

By Timothy Horras
 

Around 60 students showed up to the Vietnam Memorial at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ on Wednesday, turning a press conference into an impromptu rally in defense of three Rutgers students being prosecuted for a peaceful protest. (see announcements)

The "Rutgers 3", as their classmates have labeled them: Erik Straub, a Rutgers College junior, Suzan Sanal, a Douglass College junior, and Arwa Ibrahim, a Rutgers College senior, are being charged with 'recklessly creating ... a hazardous or physically dangerous condition by an act which serves no legitimate purpose.'

"91 Rutgers students will be shipped to Iraq beginning this month; Rutgers students are significantly more likely to be put into harm's way due to the criminally negligent actions of President Bush than they ever will be attending a protest in New Brunswick," the Walkout Coalition stated in a press release responding to the charges. "The only hazardous and dangerous situation that has been created has been the result of the decision by the US government to invade Iraq."

The rally opened with Alyson Mandeville, a representative of Tent State University/Students for a Democratic Society, issuing the demands of the Walkout Coalition: "To the New Brunswick Prosecutor's Office: Drop all charges against the Rutgers 3. To the City of New Brunswick: It is obvious that the voice of students is not being considered in City Hall. Therefore, we demand student seats on the New Brunswick City Council to represent our student neighborhoods. Student representation for our student wards!"

There were statements made on behalf of some of the groups which organized the 2008 Rutgers Walkout Against the War. Brielle Nalence spoke on behalf of Radigals to express the solidarity with the Rutgers 3, while Allie Graham, a member of Rutgers Against the War, condemned the charges and urged Rutgers to divest its endowment from war-profiteering companies.

Anthony Shull from Empower Our Neighborhoods offered support for the Rutgers 3 and said EON joined in the demand that the charges be dropped. "But these are not our only demands," he continued. "We demand an end to city corruption. No more housing officials taking kickbacks from contractors. We demand an end to immigration raids in our city. We will not except an immigration policy that aims to remove our friends and neighbors from their homes in the dark of night."

"We didn't pick this fight, but we will win it," Shull concluded.

Finally the "Rutgers 3": Suzan Sanal, Erik Straub and Arwa Ibrahim took the stage to cheers and applause.

Erik Straub, a member of Tent State University/Students for a Democratic Society and one of the students being charged by the city was the first to speak. "A month ago I stood here alongside all of you. Today, I stand before you once again, but this time as an accused criminal. And what crime do I stand accused of?" Straub asked the crowd rhetorically. "Opposing the immoral war in Iraq, demanding our government bring home our loved ones who have been asked to fight a war without a purpose, and supporting the right of the Iraqi people to live free from foreign occupation!"

Suzan Sanal, a member of Rutgers Against the War and one of the three proclaimed her confidence that the unjust charges leveled at her and the other students would be dismissed. "We believe we are innocent and we are confident we will be exonerated." She went on to charge that the prosecution amounted to intimidation and harassment in the attempt to deter antiwar activists from mounting further protests.

Erik Straub concluded the rally by stating unequivocally: "We will beat these charges, and we will beat this war!" The crowd cheered again as the Rutgers 3 made their way off stage.

After the press conference, students said they were upset about the charges against the Rutgers 3. "The city government keeps telling us they oppose the war in Iraq, but now they're prosecuting students for doing the right thing and peacefully protesting the war," said John Aspray, a Rutgers freshman. "If they really want the war to end as much as we do, why aren't they doing anything about it?"

----

Please help us as we try to defend our 3 fellow students who are being prosecuted for peacefully opposing the war! Our resources are limited, and are used to fund our many projects: college mentorship programs, local democracy initiatives, cultural festivals and peace protests.

Click the Donate button below to make a secure online donation to the Rutgers 3 Legal Defense Fund.

Hear the Rutgers 3 on WBAI Radio! Visit http://archive.wbai.org/ and play or download the 6AM show ('Wake Up Call- Public Affairs') from today (April 24th) to hear the interview that Erik and Suzan did early this morning. They were on in the last 15 minutes of the hour.