U. student arrested at downtown protest

Seventeen protesters -- including one Penn student -- were arrested yesterday in a nonviolent demonstration against the death penalty at the city District Attorney's Office. As more than 100 vocal protesters looked on, Philadelphia Police handcuffed and carried away the demonstrators, most of whom had been sitting with locked arms on the steps of District Attorney Lynne Abraham's Center City office. College junior Matt Grove was among those arrested and was charged with a summary offense of obstruction after being held for six hours yesterday afternoon. "This is one of the issues I feel most convicted about," Grove said. "And I feel that the political system in this country has taken away my voice." Grove and the others assembled to protest the policies of Abraham's office, which has been under fire recently for its aggressive pursuit of the death penalty. City Council passed a resolution earlier this year calling for a moratorium on the practice. Jeff Garis, executive director of Pennsylvania Abolitionists -- a statewide group that organized yesterday's protest -- said Abraham has an obligation to follow Council's February decision. "The DA has decided once again that she is going to ignore the request of the city government," Garis said. "We have to go in and demand that they do or demand that they leave." The protesters -- many of whom donned bright T-shirts expressing their opposition to capital punishmen -- marched together to Abraham's office from nearby Love Park, a move that forced police to close 15th Street during the busy mid-morning hours. Chanting "Execution, no solution" and holding picket signs, the group divided in two when it reached the Arch Street office building. Those who engaged in the peaceful blockade sat directly in front of the office -- immediately encountering a cadre of plainclothes police officers -- while a much larger group of protesters moved across the street and continued to chant in support. After nearly an hour and two police warnings, the protesters were handcuffed and taken one by one to waiting police vans. In addition to Grove and his companions at the office entrance, three demonstrators were arrested inside the building after they entered wearing business suits and began a similar protest inside. Grove reported that they were charged with more severe misdemeanor offenses. Called "America's deadliest DA" in 1995 by The New York Times, Abraham has been the focus of national controversy over capital punishment, largely due to the booming population of Philadelphians on the state's death row. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, more than 130 people have been sent to death row from Philadelphia -- a number that surpasses all but two American cities and 10 entire states. In addition, Abraham's critics have cited drastic racial disproportions in the city's death penalty prosecutions. Only 9 percent of those sentenced were white. In addition to Grove -- a member of Penn Students Against Sweatshops -- several other Penn students took part in the rally from across the street. Tina Collins, a second-year student at the Graduate School of Education, said she felt an obligation to support the cause of the protesters. "I think that students have a responsibility to come out for stuff like this," she said. And Grove, who along with two Penn students was arrested in the same protest last year, agreed, stressing that civil disobedience is sometimes the best way to effect change. "I think too often people sit back and act as though they're not empowered," he said. "But we are empowered -- not through the ballot box, but through direct action."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.