Ian says:

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February 15, 2007

Voluntary Witness Statement:

Witness: Ian Morgan

11:50am – Three other students and I (Ian) walked into the Career Fair to distribute “Do You Know Enough to Enlist?” flyers to provide alternatives to Army and Navy recruiters at the Career Fair.

I stopped to stand by the Army table, while the others moved to hand out flyers by the Navy table. When I arrived, the Army recruiter was talking with a visitor about some of the different options and programs that the Army could offer. As the visitor left, I handed him one of the “Do You Know Enough to Enlist?” flyers. Noticing me, the recruiter asked if I was anti-military. I responded that I was not against individual soldiers, but that I disagreed with the military as a larger system. He then asked if I thought protesting recruiters was an effective way to stop the military. The conversation continued with it being clear that we had significant differences of opinion about war, politics, the Iraqi people, and the military. Among other things, he told me that 9/11 was directly connected to Iraq because Saddam Hussein was known to be funding terrorist groups. He also implied that if I really wanted the military to be unsuccessful in recruiting, then I was helping open up the United States to attacks from foreign countries that would lead to millions of American deaths, possibly even my own.

12:07pm – Karim arrived at the Army table, and offered a “Do You Know Enough to Enlist?” flyer to the recruiter. Immediately, the calm, relaxed demeanor of the recruiter changed, and he refused the flyer, seeming irritated with Karim’s presence. Karim asked if he was sure he didn’t want a flyer, and proceeded to ask how the recruiter felt about the numerous veterans who are now homeless. The recruiter maintained that most homeless people claiming to be veterans were not actually veterans. From there, the recruiter asked Karim if he was homeless, which seemed to take Karim by surprise. At this point, both the recruiter and Karim started to raise their voices to each other.

“Why are you asking me if I’m homeless? What does that have to do with anything? Are you homeless?” said Karim.

“No, I’m not homeless, but I’m asking you if you are homeless,” replied the recruiter. Karim then cut to the point and explained his reason for handing out flyers that encouraged people to consider important questions before joining the military.

“I don’t want to see more young people joining the Army, just to be sent to kill innocent Iraqi children.” As he said this, he took a step forward, decreasing the distance between himself and the officer. Having Karim approximately 1.5-2 from him noticeably bothered the recruiter and he instructed Karim to step back 3 feet. Karim did not move forward or back, and the recruiter told him that Karim was infringing on his personal space. In response, Karim said that because he attended WWU he had just as much right to the area as the recruiter. He then suggested to the recruiter that if the close quarters were uncomfortable, the recruiter could make a decision to stand behind the Army table.

Then, the recruiter called over another Army recruiter, told him there was a problem with a protestor (Karim). Both recruiters proceeded to stand in military style in front of their information table, looking straight ahead, not engaging with us. So, both Karim and I were silent and stood waiting to pass out flyers. A third man dressed in Army fatigues joined the other two recruiters and stood in front of them, in what appeared to be some sort of serious formation. This was somewhat intimidating to have three Army men standing in an official manner right next to me, but none of them spoke to us or asked us to leave, so I stayed.

After a short while, a woman wearing a green shirt that read “Career Fair” came to talk with the recruiter who had been arguing with Karim. She asked if there was a problem, the recruiter said that there was, and, motioning to Karim, said he was causing a disturbance. The woman nodded and walked away. Meanwhile, Karim and I stood still and silent. A few students who had been passing out flyers by the Navy table came by and told me that they were leaving to go to class or get something to eat. One of these students relayed a short description of the heated argument she had with one of the Navy recruiters. Another student, who I recognized, stopped and asked me what I was doing. I told him that I was handing out flyers about alternatives to military enlistment.

Some of the people stationed at some of the nearby business tables commented to Karim that he was acting rudely and inappropriately. Two attendees of the Career Fair, who had been watching the incident, also told him that they were there searching for future job options, and that they didn’t agree with him or his methods. One woman stood by the recruiter and told Karim, “I stand with him” (referring to the recruiter). Karim’s response was that he was exercising his right to free speech, as he did not feel comfortable having military recruiters on the school’s campus.

At this time, I saw two University police officers approaching. They asked Karim to sit in a chair in a corner, to which he replied that he did not want to. They then asked for his identification. “No, why do you need my I.D?” said Karim. This exchange occurred once or twice more, and Karim then asked for one of the officer’s badge numbers. I saw him take out a pen and paper to writer it down, but I couldn’t tell if the officer (Officer Connie Satter) did give him her badge number or not. Then a third officer arrived, although she was not in uniform, but was wearing a jacket that read Bellingham Police on it. This officer got Karim’s attention and explained, “All we need is for you to give us your name, and you will be free to go. We just need your name so that we know who you are, and if you come back here today, you will be trespassing.”

Karim gave the police his full name, but then the Bellingham Police officer said they needed his I.D. as well. This frustrated Karim, and he yelled at them. Upon being yelled at, the Bellingham Police officer said, “Ok. That’s it. Get him out of here.” Officer Satter put her hands on Karim, seeming like she was trying to push him in the direction of the door. Karim backed up and told Officer Satter to take her hands off of him. He repeated that he wanted her to take her hands off him, but they put one hand behind his back and led him outside of the Multipurpose Room. I, along with another student who had been handing out flyers, followed the police outside to observe what was happening.

Outside, they told Karim to sit in a chair and repeatedly told him to give them his I.D. I’m not sure how long it was before he gave them his I.D., but maybe a minute or two. It was hard for me to hear or see exactly what was going on because Officer Dave Garcia was standing in front of me and asking me questions about what organization we were with and the name of our supervisor. He also asked me to back up twice. Karim sat in the chair for a time while the police called in his information and waited for confirmation that they could arrest him for disorderly conduct. After a while, Karim looked at me and asked me to call one of the AS advisors. So, I got on the phone and eventually reached an advisor, Casey Hayden, and told him that Karim was being detained by the police and that I thought Casey should come communicate with the officers.

When Casey arrived on the scene, the officers received permission over their walkie-talkies that they could arrest Karim. So, they stood him up, turned him around, and put handcuffs on him. Karim pleadingly asked Casey to assist him by talking with the police about the situation. Casey told Karim to make it as easy on himself as possible. The police proceeded to search Karim’s clothes for weapons. They removed all his possessions in his pockets (wallet, gloves, and a couple pens). Then another officer brought a police car. Visibly traumatized and worried, Karim was put in the police car. Officer Dave Garcia told me that I could come down to the University police station and give a written witness statement. Another student offered to carry Karim’s backpack down to the station.

When I arrived at the station, I told them that I was there to give a written witness statement regarding the incident. They told me it would take awhile, so I had a seat on a nearby bench. After waiting approximately 20 minutes, I decided to ask if they could give me an estimate on how long Karim would be held, what they were charging him with, and how long I would need to wait until I could write my statement. The man at the window, quite assuredly, told me that Karim was not going to be released anytime soon; that they were going to take him to the county jail for booking. He also told me that he was not allowed to tell me what the charges were, and that it would be at least an hour until I could give a written statement. However, five minutes later, the same man came out of his office to tell me that, actually, they were not going to take Karim to jail. About 15-20 minutes later, Karim came walking out of the police office.