Apr 10, 2009 7:45 pm US/Eastern
Police Arrest 19 In NYC School Protest
Internet Buzzing With Talk Of The Use Of Tear Gas, But Police And Witness Shoot Down The Rumors
"New School In Exile" Focus Angst At School's President
By KATHRYN BROWN, CBS 2 HD News
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
A student protest at a local university is finally under control, but not before a dramatic standoff with police.
Officers stormed the Greenwich Village building occupied by the students Friday morning.
The seven-hour standoff came to the dramatic finish when officers, armed with pepper spray and batons, broke down the door. 19 student activists were led out of the school, and arrested one at a time, by police outfitted in riot gear.
The students are being charged with trespassing, and could face additional charges.
The protesters took over the graduate center at New School University around 5 a.m. Friday morning.
Sources told CBS 2 HD they broke into the building before assaulting a security guard and taking his cell phone.
Then, they barricaded themselves inside and hung banners from the roof. A list of demands included more study space and the resignation of the university president, Bob Kerry.
"I think [protest] is effective," protest supporter Max Schnuer said. "Other avenues haven't worked."
"They need to oppose Bob Kerry," supporter Jeremy Syrop said. "He's taking the university in the wrong direction. We don't want a Starbucks here – we want to know where our money is going."
Students blogging and using Twitter claimed that police used tear gas, but police refute the assertion.
"I didn't see them manhandling students," protest supporter Larisa Shaterian said. "They were putting them in plastic handcuffs."
This same group – an unofficial campus organization known as "New School in Exile" – staged a similar protest in December that ended peacefully and without arrests.
Since then, university officials said that group members have vandalized President Kerry's house and stolen from the student newspaper.
This time, the university decided to take a tougher stance.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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