Four Arrested in Protest

Four members of Harvard’s “Right to

Serve” tour were arrested last Wednesday

at a military recruiting station in

Portland, Maine on the charge of criminal

trespassing.

The arrested members were Samantha

G.M. Barnard ’09, Robert J. Ross ’09,

Amary K. Wiggin ’09, and Jacob P. Reitan,

a Harvard Divinity School student

who first conceived of the tour.

Twenty Harvard students have been

traveling since Saturday on a week-long

trip up and down the east coast to protest

the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy

barring openly homosexual or bisexual

recruits from enlisting in the armed services.

The group met with Maine Senator

Susan M. Collins, a moderate Republican,

at a Memorial Day parade on Sunday.

Jarret A. Zafran ’09, president of the

Harvard Democrats, said the senator

refused to answer questions about cosponsoring

a bill that would end “Don’t

Ask, Don’t Tell.”

At the Portland recruiting station

today, Reitan attempted to enlist as an

openly gay male, upon which a military

official cited the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”

policy to stop the procedure.

The 20 members remained in the

station to protest the policy, and after

approximately 30 minutes, the police

came to formally ask the group to leave

the premises. Four of the 20 did not cooperate,

leading to their arrest.

As the four sat in jail, a news channel

on the television set before them

documented their recent arrest. Fellow

inmates asked for their signatures, Ross

said in a telephone interview.

“Even some of the police officers

who were going through our finger

prints and mugshots said they support

our cause and encouraged us to continue

our movement,” Ross said.

During the conversation between the

protesters and the military officials at

the station, some officials showed sympathy

for the cause, according to Ross.

Ross said they suggested the group

lobby lawmakers, not the officials carrying

out the law. But the rising Winthrop

House senior said that he believed that

the recruiting station is a site of discrimination

and thus a valid place to

protest.

The four arrested individuals were

released on bail, but they will appear for

court in July.

Reitan, who has now racked up 11

arrests for protesting various gay and

lesbian causes, said the group members

were well aware of the likelihood of arrest

when they entered the station.

Ross called the arrest “a badge of

honor.”

“We’re getting it proudly,” he said.

Wiggin said she feels “no remorse

whatsoever” over her arrest.

“The more I do this, the deeper my

commitment grows,” Wiggin said. “It’s

nothing to be ashamed of.”

—Staff Writer Esther I. Yi can be

reached at estheryi@fas.harvard.edu.