60 or so protesting New School students are demanding that former Senator Bob Kerry -- the New School's President -- resign. Although some of the reasons for the protest include internal New School budgetary issues as well as the no-confidence vote last year in his Presidency, a lot of it alot of the animosity has to do with the question of his leading an historically progressive institution with a controversial background as a Navy Seal in Vietnam. There are unsubstantiated reports -- via Tweet -- that tear gas has been used. They took over the Albert List Academic building at 65 5th Avenue, NYC. In December there were similar protests with not much being accomplished. From CityRoom blog:
"Police officers wearing helmets and other riot gear entered a New School building at 65 Fifth Avenue, carrying bunches of white plastic handcuffs attached to their belts, evidently to arrest a group of students who had occupied the building earlier on Friday.
"As senior police officials, firefighters and emergency medical technicians looked on, the police officers surged into the building. Moments later, several were seen leaning over the parapet; the banners that the three dozen or so students occupying the building had hung were removed.
"The students had occupied the building shortly before 6 a.m. on Friday with the intention of staging a takeover similar to the one carried out at the university in December, according to a graduate student who is involved in the demonstration.
"'The students just entered the building, the student said at 5:55 a.m., adding that he was outside, on a sidewalk. 'And the police are already here.'"
In the December protests students chased Mr. Kerry, who wears a prosthetic leg from a Vietnam-era injury -- and threw a tomato at him. The New Campus is liveblogging the protest here.
UPDATE: There were 22 reported arrests in the protests wheich began at roughly 5am and ended at 11am.
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