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Marzec Says Four Students Arrested “Were Only Silencing Others”
By: Kaitlyn Roman
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Ohio University Student Senate President Megan Marzec says the arrest of four students at Wednesday's meeting could have been avoided.
"The students were not arrested for speaking," Marzec said. "They were arrested because they prevented the meeting from continuing in a democratic way. It was really horrible these students were arrested for saying things that they could have said [during Speakout]."
The students, members of "Bobcats for Israel," were at the meeting to address the actions of Marzec who posted a video dumping red liquid to portray blood, claiming to support Palestinians. Members of the group started reading a statement before the official start of the meeting in an attempt to "filibuster" the meeting.
The students were arrested by Ohio University police for disrupting the senate meeting.
"Five minutes after they started the action, we were moving right into the student speak out. Everything they were saying could have been heard by the entire student body." said Marzec.
Marzec said she condemns the actions of "Bobcats for Israel" because the basis of their action was to silence all other students from speaking.
Many students and groups were present at the meeting, and she believes they were protesting any other voices that could have been heard equally and in a democratic fashion.