Column: Arrested IU associate professor: 'Just don't tell the students to be quiet'

Guest columnist Heather Akou wrote this the day after Indiana State Police arrested her and 22 others, mostly students, protesting in Dunn Meadow the afternoon of April 27. Akou was arrested at 2:34 p.m., booked into jail an hour later and released 90 minutes after that.  

Yesterday, I was arrested by the Indiana State Police and charged with a misdemeanor for “criminal trespass.” I was also issued a statement by the IU Police Department, telling me that I am banned from campus for one year.  

I am 48 years old. This is my first time ever getting arrested. I now have fingerprints and a mugshot on file. I had just joined a protest in the designated "protest zone" (Dunn Meadow) at Indiana University… an institution where I have been paid to work for 20 years. You can draw your own conclusions about the absurdity of the charge and the ban.

I went to the protest zone to stand up for my students and their First Amendment rights to free speech. There are many things I could tell you about the things they are saying and what I think about them, but I’m going to tell you what I think is most urgent right now.

I had only been at the protest for five minutes when the Indiana State Police arrived. I guess I was thinking about other things and didn’t notice the armored vehicles. I did notice the police helicopter, which my colleagues have determined was hovering around campus for more than two hours.

Another protestor (a young, unarmed student) asked if she could hold my hand. She was shaking and I squeezed her hand to reassure her. There were two snipers on the roof of the union building with their weapons pointed at us. Since the police had tear gas launchers, a student passed around a box of goggles and surgical masks.

For 10 minutes, an officer with a bullhorn told us to “take down the tents” or face arrest. I told the officer in charge that I was a professor there to support my students… I did not have anything to do with the tents. He said, “I understand,” but did nothing to stop the process. Behind me, students started taking down the tents.

I guess it wasn’t fast enough.

I don’t know exactly how many police officers were there. They formed at least three lines, so maybe 60? They definitely outnumbered the protestors. Most were heavily armored in black (police) or camouflage (military). They were carrying metal batons and riot shields. When they started advancing toward us, they marched slowly in formation. We locked our arms together and I said a prayer for mercy and compassion.

The last thing I was told before I was attacked was to “get back behind the tents.” I said, “Why?” We should all ask ourselves “why.” What difference would it have made? Is it dangerous to express myself in front of a tent, but OK if I’m behind it? I was completely calm (I’m good in emergencies) and did not resist… there was no point. I had a baton mashed into the side of my neck and I was bruised and scraped by a riot shield. I was pushed to the ground and they started screaming at me to stand up, but I couldn’t do anything in that chaos.

Twenty-two people were arrested. An IU bus took us to an IU facility for processing before we were transferred to the Monroe County Jail. Every single protestor was a student, staff member, faculty member, or alumnus. Not outsiders. Not armed. Not dangerous. The only physical violence that happened yesterday was caused by the Indiana State Police and the people who invited them to campus. The students are using words and tents.

The encampment is peaceful. There is no smoking, no drinking… everyone is very focused on their reasons for being there. If you want to know their reasons (which I'm sure are varied), you will have to talk to them. I encourage you to go. I heard they were playing board games last night.

I am a little roughed up, but I am fine. I am more concerned about my students and my colleagues… anyone who has not been banned from campus yet. This situation needs to change before people are seriously injured or killed. Just don’t tell the students to be quiet. They are learning so much right now.

Heather Akou is program director and associate professor of fashion design at the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture and Design on the Indiana University campus in Bloomington.