Give Up Your Crosses or Go To Jail

The Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHISC or WHINSEC), formerly the School of the Americas is a United States Department of Defense facility at Fort Benning in Columbus, Georgia.
The SOA has been criticized for the participation in human rights violations of some of its graduates. Critics argue that the education encouraged such practices and that this continues in the WHINSEC.

Each year since 1990, the independent organization School of the Americas Watch, stages a protest at the school. This year U.S. presidential candidates Dennis Kucinich and Cynthia McKinney, Sister Mary Waskowiak; President of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas and Rabbi Michael Lerner addressed the crowd...

Watch Kucinich's speech here:

Fourteen protesters were arrested. In an incident that illustrates the increased harrassment by the Columbus police, three more SOA Watch activists were arrested and face charges for refusing to relinquish crosses at the vigil site whose size exceeded Columbus police regulations.

Wait a minute. Three college students were arrested because their crosses were too big?!

The so-called White Cross Three include Matthew Boynton, 20, a sophomore in International Affairs; Ashley DeBelardino, 18, a freshman; and Eric Pierce, 26, a junior in History Education. Each are members of the KSU Green Party Chapter and are also affiliated with the Georgia Peace and Justice Coalition.

The arresting officer attempted to stop them from bringing in the crosses and said that SOAW had agreed to the size guidelines. "All you’re doing is disrupting the SOA people because they agreed to those guidelines."

However, Boynton said SOAW told him that they had not agreed to the guidelines.

"I have had it clarified from several people from SOA Watch, and no, they never agreed to those stipulations. The stick law is a City ordinance, but SOA Watch had no role in the restrictions. They had not agreed to those things. And I guess in previous years, the City had the protesters walk through metal detectors and that was challenged," Boynton said.

"The SOA people didn’t feel that way at all. We had dinner with most of the SOA organizers later on. They were very pleased we can take that stick law to court," Boynton said.

..."It’s a restriction on free speech. It’s obvious that protesters bringing in signs too thick or too long or bringing in small flag poles, that’s not dangerous. Those are not being used as weapons, only to convey speech. When the City says this, what they’re really saying is you can only convey your freedom of speech how far we want it," Boynton said.

"I think it’s just a tool police forces use to harass protesters. Anytime a police can step into your business and take away your sign and tell you you can’t use whatever you want to your protest is giving the cop power over you, and I consider that harassment. And it also gives them grounds to do other things to you," Boynton said.

Boynton also disagrees with the notion that the white crosses could be used as weapons."I think it’s ludicrous. I don’t think they could be used as weapons. And even if there was the possibility to use them as weapons, it’s a peaceful area, these are protesters who are nonviolent and there’s no threat of using them as a weapon if they could be used as such," Boynton said.

"Essentially anything could be used as a weapon. You can strangle someone with a flag, but a flag is not a weapon."