An almost-sleepless night spent in a conference room resulted in the arrest of one member of UW-Madison's Campus Anti-war Network Thursday morning after the group clashed with office staff, police and Akal security guards over their occupation of U.S. Senator Herb Kohl's, D-Wisc., Madison office.
CAN members camped out to protest Kohl's voting to continue funding the war in Iraq, and refused to leave Wednesday night when an in-person, in-town meeting with the senator was not granted.
Akal security guards told CAN members Thursday morning that the office was ""continuing business as usual,"" that protesters ""weren't allowed to talk to office staff,"" that the office director who negotiated with the group Wednesday was out of the office and that they were ""allowed no more demands.""
At this point, the CAN contingent pushed out of the conference room, resulting in shoving between a security guard and a protester.
Citing complaints of noise and unruly behavior, MPD officer Scott Favour approached the group around 9 a.m., asking the members to leave or be charged with disorderly conduct, a citation that incurs a $424 fine.
Favour said the building owner called the MPD and confirmed that Kohl's office staff had also complained of the group's alleged disorderly conduct.
MPD Capt. Mary Schauf later confirmed that other building tenants also complained to the police of noise disturbance by the group during business hours.
""So, I guess what I'm asking is, ‘How many of you want to get arrested today?'"" Favour explained to a small group of CAN members, including UW-Madison graduate student Elizabeth Wrigley-Field.
""And if we refuse to leave?"" Wrigley-Field asked.
""If you're willing to leave peacefully, we're willing to let you walk out,"" Favour said. ""If people refuse to leave, we'll have to make them leave.""
After about 20 minutes of debate, all the remaining CAN members, save for two giving media interviews and one who refused to leave, gathered their belongings and marched out, loudly chanting, ""We'll be back! We'll be back!""
Madison Area Technical College second-year student Jon Dedering stayed, sitting in the middle of the office to voice his opinion of Kohl's actions regarding the war in Iraq. Dedering was arrested, booked into Dane County Jail and freed over the course of an hour and a half.
The fine for disorderly conduct, as promised by Favour, was $424, Dedering said.
He also said he plans to go to Dane County Circuit Court May 23 and plead not guilty.
""It was worth it, though,"" he said, smiling.
A teleconference between Kohl and the CAN members—arranged by his office staff—scheduled for Thursday or Friday has been postponed indefinitely or possibly cancelled, according to Kohl's Madison Office Director Darcy Luoma.
