Students and local residents have accused police of using excessive force against several anti-war demonstrators who walked down the Vestal Parkway after an on-campus protest last Tuesday. Nine protesters — seven of them students — were arrested on Tuesday after a confrontation with police erupted in a haze of pepper spray.

During an emergency Student Assembly meeting held last Wednesday, students and members of the Experimental Media Organization (EMO) came forward to give their own impressions of the rally. EMO organized the initial rally on campus. Members of the SA also discussed possible repercussions should it be found that either students or police acted unlawfully during last week’s incident.

The rally began when approximately 60 people who had attended an on-campus protest for the same cause decided to leave campus to demonstrate in front of an army recruiting station in the University Plaza shopping center. Several students said Wednesday that they were acting independently from EMO when they decided to continue the march down to the Vestal Parkway.

The protestors marched off campus and onto the eastbound lanes of Vestal Parkway, blocking traffic. Students said that they saw the police cars follow them as they walked off BU property and onto the parkway, but that they hung behind and did not communicate with the protesters in the beginning.

According to police, officers were trying to get the protesters to walk in the inside lane when one student jumped in front of a police car. Other protesters then started shoving officers.

Zachary Ziemba, a senior Economics major, was the first person arrested Tuesday afternoon and was walking at the back of the group, closest to the police cars. He said that he heard the officers make announcements to get off the road and though he heard it and chose not to obey, he did not think that students in the front had heard it.

“I am not in conflict with the reasoning why I was arrested,” Ziemba, who was charged with disorderly conduct, said. “I do believe I was breaking the law.”

Ziemba, however, was upset that he and the others arrested had been portrayed as agressive towards police.

“I don’t know what other people were doing, but I know that I was not aggressive,” Ziemba said, adding that he was hurt over the allegations.

David Bittner, a senior German major who was also arrested during the protest, said that he had a much different experience.

Bittner was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest, though he disagrees with the second charge.

“At no point did I resist the officer,” Bittner said, explaining that he was arrested and pushed to the ground by police after trying to mediate a situation between the officers and another student.

Though most involved in the protest have spoken out against the officers on scene, Vestal Police Chief John Butler said that he thinks they acted accordingly.

“The people arrested were those who were not complying with the law,” Butler said, responding to statements by demonstrators that the officers were arresting people at random.

The chief also added that several officers were pushed or otherwise assaulted by protestors. Most protestors who attended the meeting however said that it was not the students but the police who were pushing.

Butler said that he believed the situation could have been avoided if the police department had been given any notification of the rally beforehand. He explained that the department would have been able to help contain the march to the side bike lane and keep traffic moving.

While many students and protestors spoke out against the actions of police during Wednesday’s meeting, no officers or representatives were present. Butler said that his department had not been informed of the meeting.

Students who spoke at the meeting urged SA members to review video footage of the protest, especially a 20-minute-long clip on the News Channel 34 Web site. Protestors said that clip, unlike many others that have aired locally, has hardly any editing.

When public comment ended, the SA voted to approve a statement which stipulates that any evidence proving illegal activity by either a student group or abuse by law enforcement officials will prompt the Student Association to respond accordingly.

The statement received a 21 vote approval, with 0 against and 3 abstentions.

After the meeting, members of the SA said that it was important for them to hold the vote before students left for spring break but that they weren’t going to form any conclusions until they had heard from all parties involved.

Others who spoke against the police included junior political science major Basheer Bergus, who was arrested at the protest and charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. According to Bergus, he was arrested and told he was resisting arrest more than ten minutes after officers pepper sprayed him in the eyes, temporarily blinding him.

Bergus, who has asthma, also said that officers refused to get him medical attention once he was in custody. Video of Bergus throwing up after being sprayed can be seen on the News Channel 34 Web site.

“I don’t care what people’s opinions are of the Iraq war,” Bergus said. “Students were brutalized yesterday.”

“I think this SA needs to denounce police brutality because that’s exactly what happened,” he added.

Bergus’s statement received a standing ovation and applause.

All students arrested during the protest have since been let out on bail. There are currently no court dates scheduled, though one student mentioned contacting lawyers about the situation.