Free speech ripples spreading in wake of war protest arrests
New Brunswick council tacks left under student pressure

Tim Horras & Yael Bromberg
for The Mirror

Members of the New Brunswick City Council were visibly shocked when an overflow crowd packed the May 7th City Council meeting to demand a resolution opposing the US occupation of Iraq and supporting city residents who work to end the war.

Supporters of three Rutgers students charged for peacefully protesting the Iraq war included students, community members, labor union organizers and peace activists, united in their desire to bring the troops home.

After the routine business of the Council, supporters stood up one by one and argued that the charges against the “Rutgers 3” be dropped. Ignoring typical City Council etiquette, all the New Brunswick residents who spoke identified themselves according to which voting ward they live in. The subtext was the attendees’ support for ward-based council elections, a current grassroots proposal in the city which many overtly spoke in favor of.

The atmosphere was charged and emotionally intense. Particularly poignant were the words of Chris Straub, the father of one of the three prosecuted students. Straub, who drove from Maplewood, New Jersey to attend the meeting, spoke on record supporting his son Erik and the other students. "Most of [our generation] are more concerned about losing our jobs or our reputations than speaking out against this war, so everybody stays quiet,'' Chris Straub said. "But that doesn't mean we don't care. These young people are saying it for us, and I'm proud of them.''

Jordan Bucey, a Rutgers student and member of Tent State University/Students for a Democratic Society (TSU-SDS), stood up and read a resolution which had been written by the student activists, which she requested the City Council adopt immediately. "Resolved: That the city Council of New Brunswick will do what it can to support any city residents working to end the War," she quoted. "Resolved: That Freedom of Speech and Freedom of Assembly will be staunchly upheld in all cases of peaceful protest in opposition to the War."

Although earlier in the evening, one councilmember had suggested that it would be impossible for them to pass the resolution that same evening, Councilwoman Blanquita Valenti finally relented and called for a vote, upon which the council passed the resolution unanimously.

Activists said they saw the resolution's passage as a victory, but also read it as an effort at appeasement on the part of the politicians. They assumed it would be ignored if pressure is not kept up, according to Michelle Velasquez, a member of TSU-SDS. "We're not going to let this end here," Velasquez said after the meeting. "The prosecution of our friends showed us all that [the students] need a voice and a vote in city affairs."

Erik Straub, one of the Rutgers 3, agreed that the prosecution of peace activists has awakened students to their lack of a say in major municipal decisions. "Students are unrepresented in New Brunswick, and that's going to change," Erik Straub said in an interview. "We will pass a referendum to create a ward-based system and we will make sure that students are fairly represented on the City Council." He went on to explain that the many students plan to continue agitating against the war during the summer, and organizing their neighborhoods to gain fair representation.

Jerry Mercado, a longtime New Brunswick resident who was at the time a Democratic primary candidate for council, said after the meeting that he wholeheartedly endorses the students-led push for a ward system. "Today we saw the ability to come together as a community: students, community members and city officials," said Mercado, whose campaign went on to defeat in the June 3rd primary election. "Our combined power can make a difference in our city and our world."