The Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) arrested a student for disorderly conduct yesterday after he reacted angrily when being told to stop painting an offensive message on the cannon, according to TUPD Captain Mark Keith. Witnesses say that senior Mark Sutherland painted the phrases, "Imagine a campus free from queer perverts" and "rest rooms are not safe" on the sides of the cannon.
Tufts police were alerted to Sutherland's activity at 11:25 a.m. by a student, who requested that officers investigate the messages. The police reportedly told Sutherland to leave the cannon area and resume painting at night, because he was violating a University policy that prohibits students from painting the cannon during daylight hours.
"We actually let him go for a little while. I left the area and came back, and he was still there," Keith said. "He started getting a little hostile and belligerent. He started raising his voice and swearing and cursing... so, we informed him that if he didn't calm down and if he didn't cease, he would be arrested. He continued, so we placed him under arrest."
According to the captain, the actual arrest was for disorderly conduct, not for painting the cannon.
"He was not arrested because he was painting the cannon or because of what it said," Keith said.
Dean of Students Bruce Reitman said that rules against painting the cannon during the daytime are not official policy, but rather "unwritten rules."
From outside Packard Hall, Reitman and Vice President of Arts, Sciences, and Engineering Mel Bernstein saw Sutherland painting the cannon. But neither administrator witnessed the arrest.
"[The arrest] wasn't for painting the cannon," Reitman said. "It was for lack of cooperation with the officers in the time that followed."
Sutherland began painting around 11 a.m., and many students on their way to class stopped to watch or argue.
"He was talking about how he is angry that he went to a school that is recognized as being tolerant to homosexuals," said senior Emily Haus, a witness. "I feel like what he's doing is for shock value."
This is not the first time Sutherland has caused controversy over the issue of free speech. Last fall, the University took disciplinary action against him for removing a banner against discrimination hanging in front of the Admissions Office during the student sit-in. And just last week, Sutherland painted "Don't ideologically molest my children with your rainbow propaganda" on the cannon, but the message was later painted over by Facilities.
After Sutherland was arrested, some spectators picked up his abandoned paint and wrote, "Imagine a campus free from Mark Sutherland" on the cannon. The cannon was later white-washed, for which TUPD maintains that University Facilities was not responsible.
"After we made the arrest and cleared [the scene], that was the end of our involvement up there. We did not call Facilities to have the cannon painted over or white-washed," Keith said.
Later that day, a group of LGBT students painted the cannon rainbow colors. According to Keith, no one reported to TUPD that students were painting during the daytime and so no action was taken.
