SDS Statement on Wayne State University repression 10/7

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at Wayne State University.

On October 7, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at Wayne State University joined the National SDS Student Walkout to remember one year of genocide, resistance, and student struggle against our administrations all over the country. We hoped to be able to protest without the threats of repression and violence by the Wayne State Police Department (WSU PD). However, this was not the case. 

At 2 p.m., we marched from Gullen Mall to the Admin Building without using amplified sound. Within minutes of standing outside, we were surrounded by WSU PD. Officer Daniel Williams approached one SDS member, telling them to immediately disperse. When asked why, he cited a new, anti-democratic policy, claiming, “protests must be registered with the school.” This is a policy SDS was never informed of at our prior two protests. Furthermore, the policy cited is difficult to locate on the Wayne State website, nor are all its stipulations localized. Specifically, the policies regarding the use of amplified sound and what activities do or do not require a reservation are inaccessible, contradictory, and confusing. The unpredictable enforcement of these policies violates students’ rights to know the rules by which they are governed. These rights have been in place since 1967, meaning Wayne State administration is violating some of its oldest principles. 

More than violating our rights as students, Wayne State Administration and WSU PD denied our constitutional right to assembly and speech under threat of violence. After informing us of the policy, Officer Williams threatened our members, saying to one, “This is your first warning to disperse or leave campus, I’ll give you a second warning, and if I have to give you a third, I’ll use force.” These threats are unacceptable, but they are shamefully common. Over the past year, Wayne State Police have met students with immense violence, which has been left unchecked by the administration. This is shameful, seeing as Wayne State is a public university that claims to support freedom of speech. Instead of uplifting student voices, they resort to police intimidation and unconstitutional policies to silence us. 

SDS stands proud in the history of the student movement. We draw inspiration from the Chicano, Black, and Asian student walkouts in 1968, the student strikes of 1969, the historic struggle against the war in Vietnam, and the struggle against South African apartheid. Like the students in those times, we also stand in solidarity with the national liberation movements taking on the U.S. empire. New SDS was founded in the wake of the U.S. invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan and since then, SDS has never shied away from standing up to the U.S. war machine. It is our duty to resist from within the belly of the beast.

 The Wayne State PD and Admin want to intimidate us and stop us from continuing our struggle for Wayne State to Cut the Ties with the IOF, but instead, they have hardened our resolve. We must continue fighting for change on campus. Because of the repression experienced on Monday, we issue the following demands to counteract threats of brutalization from WSU PD:

A. An end to the policy requiring registered protests, which undermines the spirit of freedom of speech and right to protest.

B. End the threats of brutalization from police by designating a staff of trained, unarmed, non-PD admin liaisons to communicate with student protesters rather than police. 

C. Issuing a resolution enshrining the right to student led protests on campus without restriction.

D. And once again: Cut the Ties Between the “israeli” Occupation Forces and the WSUPD

As we represent the one year of struggle against the ongoing genocide, Wayne State University students stand together to demand justice. We will not allow WSU PD or any other institution to silence us. Our fight for justice continues, and we will remain united against oppression.

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