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University of Iowa anti-war protests, 1965-1967
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[handwritten] Iowa Alumni Review Dec. '67, Jan. '68 to the President Phil E. Connell who attempted to calm the crowd which by this time had swelled to some three hundred persons. The crowd was not to be dissuaded, however, and by 2 p.m. key law enforcement officers observing at the scene decided to move in. And move in they did some 150 strong. A cheer went up from the students as two lines of white-helmeted officers were spotted marching smartly down the hill toward the Union. The line of officers stopped short of the Union as Iowa City Police Chief Partick J. McCarney and U of I officials gave the protesters two minutes to disperse or to be arrested. The two minutes lapsed as onlookers counted the seconds aloud, and the officers move up, splitting the crowd with well-drilled precision and formed a corridor to waiting buses. Iowa City police made the arrests as the deputy sheriffs and highway patrolmen held back the crowd. The protesters did not resist and the action was over within minutes. One hundred and eight persons including a few faculty people, had been arrested by the time the afternoon was over. Most were released on $25 bond and later fined $50 for their part in the demonstrations. The "heavy fine" (protesters apparently expected the fine to be the amount of the bail) may have been a factor in the behavior of the demonstrators in the December demonstrations ... wherein they attempted to avoid arrest by using hit and run tactics. Eighteen persons were arrested December 5, but the total was far less than the November arrests. Johnson County Sheriff Maynard Schneider complained to the press that had Highway Patrolmen been assigned when needed, the arrest toll would have been much higher. This issue, and many others , are still raging in the columns of newspapers and on the air waves in Iowa. Despite momentary incidents of ugliness and uneasiness, the November demonstrations differed from the December incidents in that they were, for the most part, non-violent. The protesters achieved their apparent goal - to get arrested. In fact, one demonstrator, who had left his post momentarily to get warm, missed the arrests and asked an officer if it was too late to get arrested. The officer, shaking his head in bewilderment, obliged him. The entire three-day November affair was one of surprising orderliness. Not one police club was swung. Not one drop of tear gas was used. One protester wrote, in a letter to The Daily Iowan, that he had been arrested in similar demonstrations in several states over the years, and that " these were the nicest cops I've ever been arrested by." There was general agreement that the demonstrations had been handled in the best possible manner and the November incidents culminated in what amounted to a victory for the police. M.L. Huit dean of students, notified 70 students that they were being placed on strict conduct probation. Those put on probation argued that nothing had been done to the anti-protesters who had roughed them up during the demonstration at the Union. Huit answered that no one had been identified in the photographs of the incident. While the November dust was beginning to settle, the December demonstration against Dow swung into high gear after a week or so of preparation which included a fast by some of the protesters, and a camp-in on the [photo to left] Faces in the crowd - during the demonstrations in front of the Union (left) and inside the building (right). The demonstrations were staged to protest the appearance of Dow Chemical Co. recruiters on campus. 20
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[handwritten] Iowa Alumni Review Dec. '67, Jan. '68 to the President Phil E. Connell who attempted to calm the crowd which by this time had swelled to some three hundred persons. The crowd was not to be dissuaded, however, and by 2 p.m. key law enforcement officers observing at the scene decided to move in. And move in they did some 150 strong. A cheer went up from the students as two lines of white-helmeted officers were spotted marching smartly down the hill toward the Union. The line of officers stopped short of the Union as Iowa City Police Chief Partick J. McCarney and U of I officials gave the protesters two minutes to disperse or to be arrested. The two minutes lapsed as onlookers counted the seconds aloud, and the officers move up, splitting the crowd with well-drilled precision and formed a corridor to waiting buses. Iowa City police made the arrests as the deputy sheriffs and highway patrolmen held back the crowd. The protesters did not resist and the action was over within minutes. One hundred and eight persons including a few faculty people, had been arrested by the time the afternoon was over. Most were released on $25 bond and later fined $50 for their part in the demonstrations. The "heavy fine" (protesters apparently expected the fine to be the amount of the bail) may have been a factor in the behavior of the demonstrators in the December demonstrations ... wherein they attempted to avoid arrest by using hit and run tactics. Eighteen persons were arrested December 5, but the total was far less than the November arrests. Johnson County Sheriff Maynard Schneider complained to the press that had Highway Patrolmen been assigned when needed, the arrest toll would have been much higher. This issue, and many others , are still raging in the columns of newspapers and on the air waves in Iowa. Despite momentary incidents of ugliness and uneasiness, the November demonstrations differed from the December incidents in that they were, for the most part, non-violent. The protesters achieved their apparent goal - to get arrested. In fact, one demonstrator, who had left his post momentarily to get warm, missed the arrests and asked an officer if it was too late to get arrested. The officer, shaking his head in bewilderment, obliged him. The entire three-day November affair was one of surprising orderliness. Not one police club was swung. Not one drop of tear gas was used. One protester wrote, in a letter to The Daily Iowan, that he had been arrested in similar demonstrations in several states over the years, and that " these were the nicest cops I've ever been arrested by." There was general agreement that the demonstrations had been handled in the best possible manner and the November incidents culminated in what amounted to a victory for the police. M.L. Huit dean of students, notified 70 students that they were being placed on strict conduct probation. Those put on probation argued that nothing had been done to the anti-protesters who had roughed them up during the demonstration at the Union. Huit answered that no one had been identified in the photographs of the incident. While the November dust was beginning to settle, the December demonstration against Dow swung into high gear after a week or so of preparation which included a fast by some of the protesters, and a camp-in on the [photo to left] Faces in the crowd - during the demonstrations in front of the Union (left) and inside the building (right). The demonstrations were staged to protest the appearance of Dow Chemical Co. recruiters on campus. 20
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