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Students met Wednesday night in the MPR to organize a march against police brutality planned for Sunday, Oct. 22, a national day for protesting police brutality. 

The Student Unity Network (SUN), an umbrella organization, brought together several student groups including Refuse and Resist, American Civil Liberties Union, and Connecticut Students Against the Death Penalty to discuss planning and logistics of Sunday’s march. 

"We have two goals [for the protest]," said Alana Lopez ’03, a protest coordinator and one of the founders of the Wesleyan Chapter of Refuse and Resist. 

"The first one is to unite people on campus against police brutality. And the other is to let the Middletown police know we are a force," she said. 

The meeting addressed the plan of the march, the demands to be presented to Middletown Police Department (MPD), the tone of the protest, and the bigger national issue of police brutality. The coordinators emphasized that the march is not meant to revolve around the Wesleyan student Ray Dolphin ’01, who was arrested Oct. 8. The march is in solidarity with a national march. In addition, Dolphin’s lawyer advised against mentioning Dolphin’s name during the rally because his
case is pending. 

The march is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. with a speak-out in the CFA courtyard followed by the walk down to Main Street. When the marchers reach the MPD on Main Street, they plan to deliver their demands and stage another speak-out against police brutality.

"We have a list of achievable institutional demands," said Andrew Rothman ’03, co-founder of Refuse and Resist. The MPD reform  demands include requiring officers to identify themselves upon request, adopting an order for wearing identification badges on their outer garments and implementing more compliant reactions
on the part of the police with regard to complaints. 

When students who witnessed Dolphin’s arrest filed a complaint against the MPD, they said the MPD was hostile toward them. 

Another objective is a public apology for the Dolphin incident. SUN plans to address these demands to the police chief of the MPD. The demands are universally agreed upon by most, according to protest organizers, so they will gain publicity that will pressure the police to change. They are relying on public pressure to reform
the MPD. 

"We don’t want to antagonize Middletown residents," said Sarah Dalsimer ’01, another co-founder of Refuse and Resist. Rally coordinators will try to walk on the sidewalks and not block traffic, which might inconvenience residents. 

One concern expressed during the meeting is the reaction of MPD to the marchers. 

"We don’t have much history with the Middletown police," Lopez said. They don’t know how the police will respond to activists. 

Sunday’s rally is one of many actions across the country that will protest brutality. 

"We’re trying to combine the national day with the Wesleyan incident," Dalsimer said. 

"It’s a youth question. How are young people going to be safe?" said Max Mischler ’04, a member of SUN. 

"[The existence of brutality] reflects the training of police," added Mischler. He believes officers are trained for dealing with criminals, not ordinary citizens. 

"This [protest] is at least as much a Middletown issue as a Wesleyan issue, and that makes it not just another Wesleyan protest," Rothman said. Since the march concerns the community as well as Wesleyan, he believes the issue will gain public support. 

SUN is attempting to incorporate the Middletown youth into the Wesleyan community to protest police brutality. SUN has invited the North End Action Team, churches, synagogues, and the local high school to join the march. 

The protest march commences a month long awareness of police brutality. Other events include film screenings and "Black and Blue" at the Zilkha Gallery. This art exhibit examines police violence and opens on Sunday, Oct. 22.