The glass Snapple bottle that Michael Dranove threw at a D.C. military recruitment center was supposed to be a water balloon. But another protester mixed up the request and brought him the bottle instead to Funk the War protest on March 19.
Dranove, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, hesitated for a moment, but then threw the bottle filled with yellow paint.
That bottle will cost Dranove six months of probation and 20 hours of community service, beginning in September.
“It was worth it to throw the paint if that’s the sentence they’re going to give me,” Dranove said. “I’d like to say that no matter what the sentence was, I’d do it again, but that’s not the case.”
Dranove was originally charged with defacing government property, possessing a weapon (the Snapple bottle) and three counts of assaulting a police officer for the flecks of glass that landed on three police officers.
At his May 5 pretrial hearing, two of the assault charges were dropped, and Dranove pleaded guilty to the remaining charges.
He felt like there was enough evidence against him and that he could face jail time, so he decided to plead guilty, said Dranove’s lawyer Mike Madden, a graduate of AU’s Washington College of Law.
A police officer, who had observed Dranove throwing the water bottle, was prepared to testify at the trial, according to Madden.
Madden is a lawyer for activists who offers his services in exchange for community service. Dranove agreed to do 40 hours of community service for a cause Madden likes, such as combating homelessness or participating in the anti-war movement, Madden said.
The spring “Funk the War: Bad Romance Street Party” protesters wanted the government to spend less on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and more on education, The Eagle previously reported.
Dranove helped organize the event, and plans were made for him to chuck water balloons filled with paint.
At the rally, Dranove kneeled down, and the protesters formed a circle around him, blocking anyone from seeing who threw the paint. But a police officer had apparently been following him, he said, and the second he threw the bottle the officer tackled him and took him to the police station.
Dranove said he threw the bottle to give people confidence that the protesters mean what they say: They are going to end repression and injustice; they are going stop military recruiters and “do all these radical things.”
Pacifism is a major downfall of the anti-war movement, he said. It’s a “dumb way” to make the movement lose.
“These actions are a way to give us confidence,” Dranove said. “We’re ready. If we have the numbers, we’re ready to take the actions.”
landerson@theeagleonline.com
