Scores Arrested in Athens during Protest Over Trump Travel Ban
< < Back to court-street-fills-with-opposition-to-executive-ordersATHENS, Ohio — About 70 people who were protesting President Donald Trump’s ban on travelers from seven Muslim-majority nations were arrested at Ohio University Wednesday night. The university said the protesters were arrested and charged with criminal trespass after they refused to leave a sit-in demonstration inside the student union building.
The protest began at roughly 4:00 p.m. on the steps of the Athens County Courthouse. Police blocked off the building, and the left-turn lane of Court Street as the number of protesters grew. A few students led the rally chanting into a megaphone. Many of the protesters came equipped with signs displaying both uplifting messages and words of disapproval for the President.
This was the second major protest at Ohio University following the inauguration of President Trump.
Members of Ohio University’s College Republicans also stopped by the event. “I am all for peaceful protest, but they’re protesting an odd message,” OUCR’s campus president David Parkhill said. “This isn’t a Muslim ban, which is how everyone is trying to spin it right now; this is a ban on seven countries that were predetermined before Trump even took office.”
Others think differently. One protester said, “Fundamentally, I don’t believe in borders and I don’t see how any human could ever be illegal.”
The protest lasted a little over an hour until the crowds traveled south on Court Street to Baker University Center where they staged the sit-in. Police made the arrests after the group refused demands to vacate the building.