STARC leader remains in jail after WTO protest

TIM MATSUI/NEWSMAKERS Like this man, STARC member Terra Lawson-Remer, MC '00, was arrested at the WTO protests.

A collect call awoke Ben Siegel, PC '00, on Thurs., Dec. 2. The call was from fellow Student Alliance to Reform Corporations (STARC) member Terra Lawson-Remer, MC '00. "Terra called at around 10 a.m. her time and told me that she was in a jail cell with no beds and no sleeping gear," Siegel said. "She hadn't been charged yet and she hadn't talked to a lawyer yet."

Lawson-Remer was arrested at 9:30 a.m. on Wed., Dec. 1 in Seattle, as part of the protest against the World Trade Organization (WTO) summit. "Apparently she and a group had marched into a part of the city that was designated a no-protest zone. She was unaware that it was a no-protest zone, though," Roric Tobin, BR '00, Lawson-Remer's roommate, said. Lawson-Remer was then held in a bus for 12 hours after her arrest. On Thursday morning, Lawson-Remer used the jail's pay phone to update Tobin and Siegel. "She was in a jail with 30 women and sounded really tired," Siegel said. "She didn't know what was going to happen to her."

Siegel sounded both hoarse and tired himself. He too had been in Seattle, protesting with Lawson-Remer. Siegel left on Tues., Nov. 30, while Lawson-Remer planned to leave Wed., Dec. 1. "Neither she nor I were there to cause a spectacle," Siegel said. "We were there to protest peacefully and get out the message that the WTO really needs to be reformed in order for environmental and workers' standards to respected." Of the 50,000 protesters who attended the WTO conference in Seattle, over 600 were arrested. Downtown Seattle has been placed under a nighttime curfew.

Siegel confirmed that on Tues., Nov. 30, he and Lawson-Remer ignored the Seattle policemen's warnings not to block the access to building if they didn't want to avoid being pepper-sprayed. "We thought we should hold our ground and not give in," he said. "And so we got sprayed. It really hurt my eyes and I know that Terra couldn't open hers for about an hour afterwards."

Meanwhile, back in New Haven, members of STARC expressed solidarity with the cause—without fear of tear gas and pepper spray. On the evening of Wed., Dec. 1, about 100 people attended a WTO protest on Cross Campus. "We wanted to show our opposition to how the WTO is structured," Kathryn Kline, BK '03, an organizer, said. "The WTO favors free trade with a lack of concern for environment, safety, workers' rights and public health," she said. Tobin informed everyone about Lawson-Remer's situation. He handed out slips of paper that encouraged everyone to contact the mayor of Seattle and demand her release. For now, Tobin said, "We're waiting to hear from Terra again."

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