Two AU students jailed, released during 'weekend of activism' in D.C.

Correction Appended

AU students Michael Dranove and Matt Halbe were arrested during the “Funk the War: Bad Romance Street Party” Friday afternoon. Dranove was released around 8 p.m., while Halbe was released around 12 a.m.

A total of six people were arrested at the rally protesting the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, according to The Washington Post. Students from the University of Maryland and the George Washington University were arrested, according to Dranove.

Halbe is a veteran who served in the Iraq War for two years and now attends AU as a junior in the School of International Service. He believes that the decision to wage the war in Iraq was a mistake.

“Part of the reason I was at the protest to begin [with] was my personal opinion and experience,” Halbe said. “At the same time ... I’m uncomfortable about the anarchy message. That’s the real ideological problem I have [with the protest].”

After the march had passed the U.S. Treasury building, Halbe was lingering behind in an area where protestors had climbed onto the building. The police began to cordon off that area and asked him to move off the sidewalk, he said.

“I kind of stood there and looked at him,” Halbe said. “And [the officer] said, ‘You can either do what I say or you can get arrested.’ And I said ‘I’ll get arrested’ ... I just did it to spite him almost.”

Halbe said his decision was based on the environment in the rally.

“It was very empowering to be in a position where you’re dancing in the streets,” he said. “You see 200 cops, and you see probably a smaller number of protesters, and you feel this conflict, like it’s us versus them.”

Halbe said he was released from jail with a citation for disorderly conduct for crossing a police line, and his court date is April 7.

Geoff Ramsey, an AU graduate student and Community Action and Social Justice member who helped organize the protest, said that Dranove, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, was nearby when someone vandalized the Armed Forces Recruiting Center.

Exactly what happened in this situation is unclear, Ramsey said.

Protesters were shouting, “Who do you protect? Who do you serve?” and started to go into another chant when the sound of shattering glass stopped them. A large yellow splatter of paint then appeared on one of the windows of the recruitment center.

“I just remember cops coming into the crowd, grabbing me, throwing me on the ground, cuffing me, and I had to kneel down for awhile while they yelled at me,” Dranove said upon release.

Dranove has been charged with allegedly defacing government property — a felony — and will appeal in court on April 6.

“I was arrested. They took me into prison, told me I wasn’t going to be released until Monday, sitting in a cold jail cell all by myself,” Dranove said. “I was kind of freaked out because [I thought] 72 hours in this jail cell is not going to be fun.”

Dranove is currently working on getting a lawyer from Public Defenders or The National Lawyers Guild but expects the felony will be reduced to a fine.

“Most likely the felony will be reduced to a misdemeanor,” Dranove said. “At that point, if it goes to trial, they’ll probably just reduce it to a fine because they don’t want to take it to trial.”

Halbe said he did not agree with the paint being thrown at the recruitment building.

The protest aimed to display the disillusionment of the youth with Obama and the new administration for not living up to its promise of ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. March 19, the day of the street party, marks the 7-year anniversary of the Iraq war.

“[Funk the War] is youth and students coming together for a mobile dance party to show that we’re in a ‘Bad Romance’ with the Obama administration and the U.S. government,” said Brian Menifee, a sophomore at Howard University who helped organize the event. “He’s deceived us. He’s broken our hearts because we were the ones knocking on doors making these phone calls for him during the campaign season.”

While the protest did devolve into violence at points, many people protested peacefully. Costumes ranged from shark suites to Lady Gaga-inspired costumes. Music blasting from stereo systems provided the soundtrack.

“Through the entire time people were really enjoying the music and having a good time,” Ramsey said. “We were just there and playing in the streets. Unfortunately, the situation got a little aggressive.”

You can reach these writers at news@theeagleonline.com.

Due to a placement error, an old version of this story was printed in The Eagle’s Monday edition. Also in this story The Eagle incorrectly reported that Halbe was arrested as the march reached the U.S. Treasury Building. Halbe was actually arrested after the march had passed the building. The Eagle regrets these error. This version has been corrected.