Arrested for Gift-giving

Anti-war Vets Arrested for Gift-Giving on Fort Bragg, North Carolina

Tuesday December 18 2007

Jason Hurd and Steve Casey, President and Vice president of the North Carolina chapter of Iraq Veterans Against the War, were arrested on Ft. Bragg on Monday, after they began passing out holiday gift packages to soldiers and family members outside the post’s centrally-located MiniMart shopping center.

Hurd and Casey stacked the gift bags on a folding table, on which was taped two signs reading "We Love Our Servicewomen and men," and "Happy Holidays from Your Fellow Veterans."

After giving away more than a hundred gift packages, the pair were handcuffed by MPs and taken to the Provost Marshall’s office. There they were held and questioned for four hours before they were released and banned from the post. No charges were filed.

After their release, the two veterans returned to their car, where a cardboard box filled with the remaining gift parcels was left atop his trunk. They discovered that someone had written with a marker on the side of the box, praising their protest and condemning their arrest.

"Many friends in my platoon DIED brutally to protect the First Amendment," the unknown soldier wrote, in part. "We have the right to peaceful protest, damn you! Why did you arrest these guys?!?!"

Photos of Hurd and Casey at the MiniMall, and of the message on their cardboard box, are posted on the Quaker House website: www.quakerhouse.org