Daily Iowan

Issue date: 4/26/07 Section: Metro

Media Credit: Katrina Hawthorne/The Daily Iowan

CEDAR RAPIDS - The 11 protesters who were arrested outside the Cedar Rapids office of Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, argued Wednesday that they had a constitutional right to remain there until receiving an appropriate response from the senator by either telephone or in person.

Prosecutors contend that the protesters stayed on the premises illegally after-hours and that police gave several warnings for the group to leave during their Feb. 26 sit-in.

Sitting in creaking wooden chairs atop burgundy carpeting, the 11 protesters went on trial on misdemeanor trespassing charges on Wednesday. Instead of individual trials, the group members decided to lump their cases together and plead not guilty.

The prosecution's first witness, U.S. Marshal Timothy Junker, said he saw the protest shortly after it began and stayed until Cedar Rapids police arrested the group nearly three hours later.

"Each took his or her turn calmly going [into Grassley's office] and airing grievances," he said. "But because the senator was in D.C. and there was no way for him to get there by a reasonable time, their request obviously couldn't be met."

Cedar Rapids police Sgt. Timothy Camp pointed out that when he arrived on the scene, roughly 20 people were "peacefully" picketing outside the Federal Building in Cedar Rapids, where Grassley's office is housed. Camp testified that during the arrests, "everybody complied and were very cooperative."

Coming from a domestic-abuse stabbing, Camp said that city police needed to respond to several vehicle accidents that resulted in injuries.

"It was exceedingly busy, and I didn't want this situation to tie us up all day," he said.

Meanwhile, the defense asked to dismiss the criminal charges on the grounds that the prosecution didn't adequately support its case. Also, protesters argued that Grassley did not sufficiently address the group's concerns.

Frank Cordaro, a member of Voices for Creative Nonviolence and one of the 11 defendants, testified that the protest was part of a larger effort called the Occupation Project, which aims to hold accountable politicians who support the war in Iraq.

"We are actively participating in democracy and doing what every American citizen ought to do," Cordaro said. "At no time were we disruptive or did we interfere with any other work going on in the courthouse."

Kathleen Kelly, the founder and co-coordinator of the nonviolence group, said a similar demonstration outside the office of Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., forced the lawmaker to call from his cell phone and hear their arguments.

Joshua Casteel, another defendant and a former interrogator at Abu Ghraib, said Grassley previously helped appoint him to West Point Military Academy. The UI graduate said he felt compelled to participate in the February protest on behalf of the millions of Iraqis adversely affected by the war in their country.

"It is appropriate and necessary to show where the trajectory of my appointment led me seven years later," Casteel said. "Without [Grassley's] approval much of what transpired for me in the military never would have happened."

The judge is set to issue a written ruling within a week.

E-mail DI reporter Neal Sauerberg at:
neal-sauerberg@uiowa.edu

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