happydalek (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
happydalek) wrote2008-03-20 04:27 pm
happydalek) wrote2008-03-20 04:27 pm
The Peace Rally that Wasn't
To acknowledge the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq, students on campus decided to hold a peaceful "walk out" rally opposing war. Another group scheduled a concurrent meeting to protest the walk out as being unsupportive to our troops (which was off-base, since the point of the first rally was to protest war, not the military, but that's a minor point and it's America and people can have rallies for whatever they want, moving on), and I decided, in keeping with yesterday's jaunt to the Hillary rally, to skip a class and see what the to-do was all about.
Sadly, after I'd only been there a few minutes, campus and town police showed up and told us that there had been "an unspecified threat" and we had to disperse. Naturally, everybody's first reaction was one of surprise and, frankly, a bit of skepticism, but when cops are telling you to tear down your signs and leave, you don't tend to argue it too much. We were all really disappointed because the keynote speaker had been just about to go to the podium and the crowd was starting to get pretty sizable. The most we found out (according to one girl who claimed to have heard this from the police) was that a young man was missing, as were a gun and some ammunition. The man apparently had some friends who'd been killed in Iraq, and he'd left a note in his room threatening to commit suicide.
The university sent out an email just a little while ago that confirmed that a student did indeed commit suicide (in one of the dorms!) via a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, and the campus is now secure.
Quite a bummer. A peace rally causing a suicide. There's irony for you.
But on a positive note, I accidentally left my gloves in my 8 AM class, didn't realize it until the end of the day, went back and found them exactly where I'd left them, unmolested. So maybe there's hope for humanity after all. :-/
Sadly, after I'd only been there a few minutes, campus and town police showed up and told us that there had been "an unspecified threat" and we had to disperse. Naturally, everybody's first reaction was one of surprise and, frankly, a bit of skepticism, but when cops are telling you to tear down your signs and leave, you don't tend to argue it too much. We were all really disappointed because the keynote speaker had been just about to go to the podium and the crowd was starting to get pretty sizable. The most we found out (according to one girl who claimed to have heard this from the police) was that a young man was missing, as were a gun and some ammunition. The man apparently had some friends who'd been killed in Iraq, and he'd left a note in his room threatening to commit suicide.
The university sent out an email just a little while ago that confirmed that a student did indeed commit suicide (in one of the dorms!) via a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, and the campus is now secure.
Quite a bummer. A peace rally causing a suicide. There's irony for you.
But on a positive note, I accidentally left my gloves in my 8 AM class, didn't realize it until the end of the day, went back and found them exactly where I'd left them, unmolested. So maybe there's hope for humanity after all. :-/