Mishka Zena

From: Running Scared
Date: Fri, 6 Oct 2006 15:01:57 EDT

What occurred at Gallaudet this morning has planted some serious doubts
whether the safety of the students on campus are in the minds of the
Department of Public Safety or those who holds positions of authority at
the university. After I made my commute to Gallaudet this morning, I was
forced to use the 6th street entrance because the front entrance was
blocked. I found out later that there was a bomb threat called in which
was the reason why there was a mass of people out front. Not knowing
this at that moment, I found a parking spot and proceeded to walk to the
Hall Memorial Building (HMB), to go to class.

What a scene! Chaos! …Students running everywhere, media trying to
catch up, DPS officers playing cat and mouse trying to find an entrance
that was unguarded and people just staring at the scene in awe. I walked
up to the east side HMB entrance and saw a student I knew through the
glass door. He was sitting on a bench, on the inside, with a colorful
array of cords and rope securing the door to the bench. After I
succeeded in attracting his attention, he reiterated what everyone was
saying. “HMB is on lockdown.”

What occurred next was the first time I have ever experienced the fear
of being physically assaulted and totally submitted to force. Where I
was standing, three DPS officers arrived and just swatted away one of
those pop-up tents, situated a couple of feet in front of the entrance,
and proceeded to grab the door handle and pull away. (You ever see one
those baboons or monkeys on the Discovery Channel frantically shaking a
tree for whatever reason?) This officer couldn’t break-in because the
ropes and cord were cleverly attached to a long bench on the inside and
the student I just concluded my conversation with, was rocking back and
forth, on the bench, with the effort of the officer’s strength, pulling
frantically, to break open the door.

No more than a minute passed when other students suddenly arrived and
proceed to create a human chain between the officers and the door. At no
point did any of the student try to touch the officers. With the kind of
facial expression they were wearing, you’d be out of your mind to even
tap them on the shoulder. A second officer was holding one of those lock
busters which look like a giant pair of bulky scissors. The third
officer just shoved the students away, just like that, so the officer
with the lock buster could gain access to the door. A lock buster
wouldn’t have done a thing since all the ropes and cords were attached
to the inside of the handle. But what really freaked me out was that
this officer just shoved a student into me, trying to clear the way.
Whoa! Is this an authorized use of force? Do you know what popped into
my thoughts at that moment? … Tiananmen Square… This might be a
gross exaggeration but at the pace these officers were going, someone
was bound to get severely injured. Will Gallaudet need a martyr like the
Chinese individual who stared down that tank to his last breath?

I felt it was important to share this with everyone because I was on the
fence with the situation occurring at Gallaudet but now I am scared
shitless. Are DPS officers authorized or permitted to act so
intimidating and frightening? I can see this action happening with law
enforcement officials, but campus officers hired to ensure the safety of
the students?

To make matters worse, the Gallaudet PR department sent out a memo to
the campus community that all claims of injury to students and pepper
spray use by DPS officials are false. Are you kidding me?? I just saw
what happened this morning with my own two eyes. These students did not
provoke those officers as they were trying to create a human barrier in
front of the door. I don’t see how anyone could justify this situation.
Is there anyone who can help those students? Deep down in my heart, I
don’t believe that this crisis should produce any bodily harm or
fatalities. The students have a legitimate claim to protest peacefully
but do the authorities have the equal legitimate claim to authorize and
coerce force?

Running Scared