Only a day after Ben Brewer and 30 other Penn State students were arrested for protesting in Old Main, they were asked yet again to leave the building's premises.
Brewer (senior-Spanish) was passing out fliers asking visitors to the Old Main Open House to consider Penn State's stance on the Designated Suppliers Program (DSP), an anti-sweatshop labor program. He was approached by Penn State police and a member of the Alumni Association and asked to leave the area, he said.
"We were just out here [passing out fliers]," Brewer said. "My concern was simply that neither of the two people that approached us could tell us [the policy]."
Brewer said he didn't wish to violate any policy, adding that what policy police said he violated wasn't made clear to him.
"The police officer wasn't exactly clear on the reason," Brewer said. "If that policy exists, we certainly complied."
Police referred all questions regarding the event to Penn State University Relations.
The events come a day after more than 30 students staged a sit-in in Old Main to force Penn State President Graham Spanier to consider signing the DSP. Thirty-one students were arrested and told they were being charged with defiant criminal trespass Tuesday.
As of press time yesterday, police had not yet determined the extent of the charge nor made a criminal complaint available.
"We plan to mobilize support in the university community to encourage Spanier to drop charges against students who were standing up for the workers making most of our apparel," Brewer said.
Vice President for University Relations Bill Mahon said the university intends to follow through with the charges.
Brewer said he was not sure of the extent of his charge.
Doug Baldwin (senior-environmental resource management), who was also arrested Tuesday, said his charge was a misdemeanor.
Centre County Magisterial District Justice Jonathan Grine said the maximum penalty for a defiant criminal trespass misdemeanor of the third degree carries a one-year prison term or a $2,500 fine.
Grine said he would assume the charge would be a summary offense, not a misdemeanor charge, although the office had not yet received charges yesterday.
"A summary offense in Pa. could be up to about a $300 fine, court costs of about $122, and/or up to 90 days in jail," Grine said. "I wouldn't give anyone jail time for something like that."
If fined, Brewer said he is confident the protestors could raise the money to cover the costs.
"We just don't think we deserve to be treated like criminal trespassers," Baldwin said. "We were forwarding something that is basically a social justice issue and shouldn't be ignored by the president."
