COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: Counter-Recruitment: General
Protests, vandalism greet recruiting center's opening
Meiling Arounnarath, Newsobserver
Dec 16, 2006
Police charged five protesters on Friday during the second demonstration ina month outside the new Army recruiting station.
"We thought it was important to not have this recruiting station open
quietly," said Emily McFarlane, a UNC-Chapel Hill junior who helped
organize the protest at the Army Career Center, 1502 E. Franklin St.
About 30 protesters -- members of Students for a Democratic Society, The
Raging Grannies and others -- held signs, walked in a circle and shouted,
"Out of Iraq, out of our schools! Out of town, shut the war down!"
Property manager Analisa Bellamy, flanked by about five police officers,
told the protesters to move to the public sidewalk several yards away on
East Franklin Street.
After her second request, all but three protesters moved to the sidewalk.
Two of them, Barry Freeman, 80, and Janie Freeman, 71, were charged with
second-degree trespass after refusing Bellamy's request that they put their
signs down. The couple's 8-by-11-inch signs read "Hands Off My Grandchildren. "
Stephen J. Woolford, 39, a peace advocate from rural Chatham County, was
charged with second-degree trespass.
Attila Nemecz, 26, of Raleigh, and Eric Gardner, 22, of Apex, were charged
with picketing.
About 4 p.m., just before the ribbon cutting, the Chapel Hill-Carrboro
Chamber of Commerce pulled out of the ceremony. "Because these planned
disruptions undermine the purpose of the Chamber's ribbon cuttings and
threaten the safety of Chamber staff and volunteers, the Chamber has
decided not to participate in this afternoon's ribbon cutting," Executive
Director Aaron Nelson wrote.
The chamber holds ribbon cuttings for any members who ask and usually does
about 30 a year, according to the statement. In addition to the protests,
two government cars parked outside the recruiting station were vandalized
with spray painted messages, "Go home!" on one and "Not welcome!" on the other.
Sgt. 1st Class Jason Earl, a recruiter watching the protest Friday, said he
shares his experiences in Iraq with potential recruits as a way of
"alleviating the fear of the unknown."
"It's very rewarding to help a young person pull together a plan for their
future, whether or not it involves joining the Army," he said in an interview.
Veteran Al Meyer, 86, came from his home in Hillsborough to support the new
station.
"I just wanted to let [the protesters] know there are other people around
who don't share their opinion," said Meyer, who served for eight years in
the Mighty Eighth Air Corps in England.
"There are so many nations that don't like us anymore," he said. "We've got
to be strong and take actions people don't like, and make sure we still
have a good ol' USA."
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