'Peace Activists' Assault Patriots at Tufts

Monday, December 3, 2001

On the evening of October 1, seven members of Tufts University's conservative newspaper, the Primary Source, painted the school cannon, a replica from the USS Constitution, in a patriotic display. Later, the night turned violent when three masked 'peace protestors' showed up to desecrate the painted cannon.

Traditionally, students at Tufts paint messages on the cannon, usually holiday messages, political messages, and messages to friends. Students paint the cannon at night, and one student guards the cannon until morning. 'If you go there to paint the cannon and someone is already there you just say 'oh, too bad,' and that happens every week here at Tufts. People want to paint the cannon the same night, someone loses out and they just go on their business. The guarding is a measure of dedication,' said Sam Dangremond, editor in chief of the Primary Source.

Dangremond and six other staffers of the Primary Source painted an American flag on the cannon and added the slogans 'God Bless America' and 'Liberty and Justice for All.' Dangremond stood watch the remainder of the night, until three hooded and masked students approached him around five AM. The students who approached were 'the campus's most notorious leftists—the type that is always protesting and makes themselves very visible,' according to Dagremond. Two of the students physically restrained Dangremond while the other painted the cannon with slogans including 'It's a global village' and 'Violence is not the answer.'

Dangremond tried for ten minutes to free himself. He was finally released when the student finished painting the cannon. Dangremond said the third student 'wanted to discuss what to do next.' Dangremond ran to the nearest blue light and called the campus police.

The three hoodlums were still at the cannon when police arrived. The students admitted to the police that they had physically restrained Dangremond. The police included this in their report, and Dangremond filed assault charges with the school's internal adjudication committee.

Tufts lists in their handbook the punishments that students should expect to receive for a given crime. The punishment for assault is normally suspension for one term. However, the committee that handled the case found a lack of evidence to support the charge of assault, although it saw the police report including the admission of guilt by the three students. The committee charged the students with harassment; all received a term of probation. Dangremond likened this to 'a slap on the wrist.' 'It's the same thing you get if your caught with an open beer can in a dorm,' he said.

'I felt the panel basically ignored the [report] and ignored the testimony of the police officers,' Dagremond said. Although he was unsatisfied with the outcome of the hearing, he said that he would not pursue criminal charges for lack of time. 'I just want to get on with my life,' he said.

'Peace Activists' Assault Patriots at Tufts

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