KRISTIN ELVES

A man is handcuffed by police Friday morning after participating in a felonious protest near Arizona Stadium. Twenty-seven people were arrested in conjunction with the protest, which denounced the university's use of telescopes on Mount Graham.

Monday October 15, 2001

Police use force as protesters resist

Twenty-seven people were arrested Friday morning on various charges after approximately 35 individuals forced their way into the Mirror Casting Laboratory at Arizona Stadium, 527 N. Warren Ave.

The protestors, who were all from various American Indian environmental and free rights groups, were allegedly protesting the university's use of telescopes on Mount Graham - a peak near Safford that the tribe considers a sacred site.

After a consultation with the Pima County Attorney's office, Tony Daykin, chief of the University of Arizona Police Department, said the protestors were not considered to be conducting a peaceful protest and were committing class five rioting, which is a felony.

According to police reports, they forced themselves into buildings and injured university employees while wearing masks and holding sticks with sharpened edges.

Three protesters were charged with aggravated assault, one for resisting arrest and one for possession of marijuana. The protesters reportedly forced their way into the Mirror Casting Laboratory wearing brown bandannas over their faces to conceal their identities and, in the process, injured two lab employees.

The group was also protesting the alleged destruction of the forest on the mountain and the decrease in the population of the red squirrel, an animal indigenous to the mountain.

"Basically, it's a statement of how it was improper and disrespectful to build on the sacred site of indigenous people," said Celeste Espinoza, a protest supporter.

A crowd of onlookers chanted, "no scopes on Mount Graham," as protesters were placed into Tucson Police Department cars.

Daykin said lab employees called 911 around 9:48 a.m. Officers responding to the scene were able to aid employees in the removal of the protesters from the building located under the east side of Arizona Stadium.

The protesters then reportedly traveled north on North Cherry Avenue toward the UA Mall.

"The cops told them to go to the Speakers' Corner," said UA alumnus Shane Dale. "When they got over to the library, the cops just jumped on them."

Daykin said after police were able to allocate a sufficient number of officers with the help of TPD, they ordered protestors to go to a shady area on the north side of the Main Library.

AMY WINKLER/Arizona Daily Wildcat

UAPD Cmdr. Kevin Haywood displays a banner stating, "red squirrel power," that was used in Friday's protest of UA involvement in the construction of telescopes on Mount Graham. Two banners, both considered a danger because they had sharpened ends on the poles, were taken into evidence by UAPD.

Daykin said some demonstrators fled and others refused the officers' directions.

The protesters were reportedly holding two large signs anchored by long wooden poles with sharpened edges.

Daykin said physical force was used on some protestors because of resistance to officers' commands.

"There were some altercations because people would not listen to the police," Daykin said. "One woman was actually kicking and screaming."

The Mirror Casting Lab is used by the astronomy department to produce mirrors that are used in the high-powered telescopes like those on Mount Graham.

Paul Guitone, an attorney known for defending people facing charges related to protests, said although the nation is experiencing a tense time, protesting is still a right granted to all people.

"One could assume the Constitution is still in effect," Guitone said. "People still have the right to protest whether it be during a time of terrorism or not."

University spokeswoman Sharon Kha said the goal of the protesters was to deliver a letter to the mirror lab.

Buddy Powell, associate director of the Steward Observatory who has also been involved in the Mount Graham Observatory project since its inception 16 years ago, said the opinions of the people native to the area were taken seriously during the project's ongoing construction.

Powell said the local tribe leaders' responses to the treatment of the mountain were positive.

"We have a long tradition of working with local tribes and communities to let them know what we're doing and how we can do things properly," Powell said.

He said tribal leaders have thanked him for listening to their ideas during construction of the site and that the university has approved money to monitor the habitat of the red squirrel.

"This university is the only institution in the nation to do anything like that," Powell said.

Kha said the actions of the protestors were both illegal and inappropriate given the current state of the nation.

"People with masks running through the campus environment - it's disconcerting to say the least," she said.

One student said she felt the arrests of the protesters were not necessary.

"I honestly don't think it's right for these people to be arrested for acting on their beliefs," said Natalie Sali, a pre-physical sciences freshman.

Another student said he though the protest was nothing more then a spectacle.

"It seems like people just want to watch people get arrested rather then listen to their cause," said John Malek-Ahmadi, a pre-business freshman.

Powell said groups have protested UA's presence on the mountain since the project was started.

Construction equipment used to build a power line for the observatory was vandalized in April, causing $100,000 in damage.