Just like in Calgary, they were accused of trespassing on their own campus:
The students were arrested around 9:00 a.m. as they were preparing to set up signs in the university’s Tory Quad, a central outdoor location, for the Genocide Awareness Project, which compares abortion to past atrocities through graphic imagery.
“This will set the standard for how far pro-lifers are willing to go for their right to freedom of speech, and their right to talk about abortion,” said Ruth Lobo, a fourth-year student and president of Carleton Lifeline, after she and the others were released this morning.
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Lobo noted, further, that the quad is listed as bookable space, and that it has been used by student groups in the past. MacDonald did not respond by press time when asked about the university’s criteria to determine whether students can use the quad.
Lobo said that when they were told this morning by campus security – who awaited their arrival along with the Ottawa police – to move to Porter Hall, security said they would escort them by a private route so that no one would see the signs. “So they really were very adamant that no one see this thing, and very adamant that no one wants to see this,” she said.
The students were taken handcuffed to campus security services, where the Ottawa police charged each with 2 counts of trespassing – failure to leave property when asked, and trying to go ahead with a prohibited event. They were each fined $130.
Suzanne from the Big Blue Wave has
the video of the arrest.
Those who believe that this has anything to do with law and order should ask themselves whether the police and campus security would treat the protesters the same way if they were campaigning for the other side. Somehow, when it comes to the left-wing group protesters, one has to be extremely loud, aggressive and violent to get even reprimanded, let alone - arrested handcuffed and fined. Peaceful pro-lifers on the other hand, that's different. If anything, those students should thank their lucky stars that they weren't thrown in jail for a year or two, the way Linda Gibbons was:
TORONTO, Ontario, October 4, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Linda Gibbons will continue to languish in prison until at least Oct. 29 after a brief appearance in the Ontario Court of Justice in downtown Toronto on Sept. 30.
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The defense argues that the government’s failure to act on the issue of the temporary injunction renders it incapable of using that order to criminally prosecute anyone accused of violating it. However, Madam Justice Mara Beth Greene has already ruled that the defence is not entitled to disclosure of Crown documents related to why it has failed to proceed with the matter. She has also rejected constitutional arguments against it.
But if Linda was throwing paint at those wearing fur coats or if those 5 that got arrested at Carleton U were staging an anti-capitalism protest - that would be a different story, wouldn't it?
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