GENEVA, NY—A group of anti-war protesters who threw blood on a soldier, a recruiting station and the U.S. flag will deliver a lecture at Hobart and William Smith campuses today.

According to a campus press release, the four Ithaca residents-- Daniel Burns, Peter DeMott, Clare Grady and Teresa Grady--are expected to address students on “the use of unconventional politics as a means for political organizing and resistance in a time of war and in a time of the Patriot Act.”

In addition, the group’s sponsor, Professor Craig Rimmerman of the HWS political science department, hopes to ask the group "what they were thinking about at the time that they made their decision, and how they have dealt with the legal ramifications of their actions."

The four were convicted of charges of trespassing and damaging government property after a jury trial in Binghamton in September 2005.

The group was accused of going to a Army recruiting center near Ithaca on March 17, 2003, and throwing their own blood on the walls, the floor, the United States flag and Staff Sgt. Rachon Montgomery, who was working as an army recruiter that day.

The protesters, while admitting to their actions, claim they have done nothing wrong. The four, who are representing themselves, claimed that their actions were legally justified because they did it to stop the United States from invading Iraq.

During the trial, it was revealed that two of the four protesters, Peter DeMott and Clare Grady, had histories of committing violent acts against federal property.

Sentencing for the four is scheduled for January 2006.

The group is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Miroslav Lovric at the United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York, Binghamton branch office. It is unknown whether prosecutors are aware of the four’s lecture.

The lecture is scheduled for 7:30 pm, in Hobart's Albright Auditorium.
According to the campus website, “interview opportunities and additional background information may be requested through the Office of Communications, Hobart and William Smith Colleges, Geneva, New York. Phone: (315) 781-3540. After business hours, Communications staff members are accessible through contact information on their answering machine at that number.”