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Sit-in organizer Matt Hill Comer speaks to members of local media during a press conference prior to attempting enlistment at a military recruiting center off High Point Road. He and other UNCG students and community members were arrested in response to their demonstration against the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.

Students arrested after sit-in

Sandy Dempsey

Posted: 9/26/06

Greensboro locals and several UNCG students participated in a sit-in Thursday, Sept. 21 at the military recruiting center off High Point Road where they were arrested for trespassing.

The protest challenged the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy that's been in effect for the past 13 years. The policy refuses enlistment to anyone who is openly gay, lesbian or bisexual.

As a part of the Right to Serve campaign, a cross-country series of peaceful protests organized by Soulforce, the individuals gathered in front of the building at 9:3 0a.m. and signed peace pledges agreeing to refrain from violent actions. Organizer Matt Hill Comer - UNCG student, member of PRIDE!, and a columnist for The Carolinian - held a press conference at 10:30 a.m. informing the media of their purpose and intentions.

Four of the individuals went into the recruiting center, attempted to enlist and also announcing their sexual orientation and were refused.

"We're no different, whether gay or straight," said 18-year-old Jessica Arvidson. "I graduated early to enlist in the Air Force."

But Jessica would not get that chance.

The police were standing by, waiting to arrest the peaceful protestors once the sit in began. The group entered the recruiting center at 10:45 a.m. only to be marched back out one by one minutes later. They were closely followed by a slew of cameras from local news stations, however the news crews were denied access into the recruiting center, as it is privately leased property.

The entrance door was blocked by Military Officer Rhodes and Captain Robbie Flynt. They locked the door and agreed to answer questions from the press so long as the cameras backed into the parking lot and away from the door.

"We have been asked to assist," commented Flynt as the doors were opened up just a little. When asked why the group had been denied the right to enlist, Rhodes replied, "The Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy," and refrained from further comment.

The officers asked the group to leave the premises, and those refusing were to be arrested. Of the 10 that entered into the building as a part of the sit-in, 9 were arrested and one chose to leave. Stacey Booe, a student here at UNCG, exited the building.

According to Booe, a plain clothes officer approached the group from the back of the room and identified himself, then called the other officers who were waiting around the corner into the room in order to properly remove the protesters. He asked everyone to leave, and she was the only one who decided to do so.

Each remaining person was lead out by two officers after being handcuffed. They were then walked around to the side of the building where a van was waiting. Finally, everyone was patted down, loaded into the transport vehicle and as a group, and taken to a mobile command center in a remote location to be processed for the charges.

According to the event's Assistant Organizer, Kimberly Kreig, police were not disclosing where the demonstrators were being taken, but once the location was known, their attorney, Samuel Johnson, would be contacting the remaining Soulforce team.

Kreig organized much of the event and in order to run the demonstration properly, she did not participate in the sit-in. Although the event was not affiliated with the university in any way, several of the participants were students.

The six females and three males were charged with trespassing and asked not to go near the recruiting center until their court date on Oct. 23. Johnson, the local Soulforce attorney, will be arguing on behalf of the group. Although he does practice other types of law, he specializes in civil rights laws, specifically in situations such as this one.

"I'm hoping the nationwide project will make change," commented 20-year-old Alex Nini as her pockets were being emptied. The entire process was over before noon.

Soulforce is a national organization that started based on the nonviolent principles of Martin Luther King and Gandhi. Its mission is, "Freedom for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people from religious and political oppression through the practice of relentless nonviolent resistance." The group works towards this objective through various venues - such as the sit-ins, occurring in 30 different locations around the United States - and the Equality Ride, a bus tour of the U.S. visiting 19 different schools that ban the enrollment of homosexuals.

"I feel what I did today was right," said 21-year-old Caitlin Stroud. "No one should be denied the basic right to serve their country."