By
Shana Heiser
Arizona Daily Wildcat
One protester was arrested and at least five were sprayed with pepper spray last night during an anti-globalization demonstration attended by several University of Arizona activists.
With guns drawn, Tucson Police Department officers arrested Daniel Patterson, Green Party candidate for the Arizona Senate, as he left the Bank One building , 2 E. Congress St., where the National Law Center is located.
After a long struggle with security guards who tried to lock out protesters, he and other protesters managed to enter the building.
Patterson was on his way out of the building when TPD officers chased him down the sidewalk, said Judy Altieri, TPD public information officer.
Officers wrestled Patterson to the ground shortly after 5 p.m. One officer attempted to handcuff him and the other tried to keep the crowd away from the officers and Patterson, Altieri said.
"I'm not exactly sure why he was arrested," said Lisa Sturdivant, Students Against Sweatshops spokeswoman. "It will be interesting to see what charge they post. Six people were in the building and like five people in the lobby."
Officers warned the crowd several times that pepper spray would be used if they didn't move away and as one policeman handcuffed Patterson, another policeman sprayed pepper spray, which hit the surrounding crowd.
Patterson, who was charged with criminal trespassing, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, refused to give the officers any information until he was transfered to pre-trial services, Altieri said.
Patterson was released last night.
Five people were directly hit with pepper spray, and an additional 15 to 20 were affected by the spray, including Sturdivant, who was hit in the eyes.
"I think the use of pepper spray was totally unnecessary," she said. "People were getting out of the way because (the police) were pushing people out of the way, and then it was like an afterthought almost."
Before the arrest, the crowd chanted, "We're non-violent, how about you?" and sang "cooperation, not exploitation, stop globalization" to the tune of the Violet Femmes' "Blister in the Sun," cars honked and waved, while other angry passersby swore and pushed protesters out of the way.
Security guards said the building was private, so protesters could not enter, said Rachel Wilson, SAS spokeswoman, but Bank One is a public agency.
"I think it's disturbing that the public isn't allowed into a public agency," she said. "I think it's a sign of the times that a public agency is in a private building."
About 15 SAS members joined the crowd of 75 Tucson activists for the protest localization.
Protests are taking place all over the nation and world in conjunction with the 8,000-person protest in Prague, Czech Republic, yesterday.
"We don't want the NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) law center. We don't want what it represents," Patterson said before he was arrested. "More world, less bank."
Protesters wanted to have a "civil discourse" with the employees of the law center, said Chris Ford, a former UA student and Earth First spokesman. "The reason they're not letting us in is because they know we're right."
