Military Conference Sparks UCSB Protest

As a Sheriff’s Department helicopter circled above UCSB at noon on Tuesday, protestors clogged Pardall Tunnel, the underpass that connects the school’s campus with Isla Vista. Student activist group S.B. Antiwar had organized them to decry the Institute for Collaborative Biotechnologies (ICB) conference, which brings UCSB researchers together with military officials and representatives from corporations like Raytheon. Police watched from a distance as several speakers explained their grievances with the meeting as well as their goals for the protest-among them, a survivor of Hurricane Katrina and an Iraq War veteran who faulted the government for what he perceived as its failures to properly care for military members.

Come that evening, the two gatherings-the conference and the protest-resulted in some tense showdowns between dissenters and those in various positions of authority, exchanges that got to the heart of the hawks-versus-doves debate concerning current U.S. military efforts, and the arrest of three people. While UC Police estimated that between 200 and 300 protesters were present, S.B. Antiwar claimed more than 400. Numbers fluctuated as classes ended. Some professors even cancelled classes so students could attend the event.

And while those involved initially amassed at Pardall Tunnel around noon, by 1 p.m., they set out for UCSB’s Corwin Pavilion, which held the ICB conference. The few police at the conference were instantly overwhelmed by the mob of protesters, and lunching conference-goers were suddenly beset with rowdy intruders. Tables were overturned and students stormed the buffet, quickly devouring anything edible. Most conference participants were able to get back into their meeting room before police forced their way to the door and sealed it off to prevent protesters from entering. An unlucky few were stranded outside staring down bullhorns and angry, painted faces. Some protestors attempted to calmly ask conference-goers why they had participated. Others merely shouted. Most lunchers appeared angered by the crowd, but U.S. Army Col. Jonathan Jaffin shrugged and chuckled at the mob, saying, “They’re doing their thing.” Once the conference room had been sealed off by police, protesters chanted and made as much noise as they could to be disruptive.