IU alumnus, student arrested

An IU student and an alumnus were arrested Saturday during an I-69 rally and protest at the Indianapolis Statehouse. \nIU alumnus Colin Schoder-Ehri and student Alison Phillips are among 24 people from the event who are facing arraignment Thursday in an Indianapolis court of law after being arrested for \ndisorderly conduct.\nSlogans such as "I-69 is the enemy" and "No I-69" were spray painted on limestone surrounding the outside doorway on the north side of the Statehouse and on marble colonnades inside the doorway. Indiana State police and Indianapolis police officers arrested more than 20 protesters out of the 40 estimated participants, from at least six states.\nSchoder-Ehri, an I-69 activist acting as a medic at the protest, said the Statehouse graffiti was "unexpected and disturbing" because the protest was advertised as a nonviolent parade. \n"Everyone I talked to was filled with passion for justice to save Hoosier jobs and taxpayer money," Schoder-Ehri said. "The graffiti was done by people not representing any group. (Those arrested) were held for 16 hours for holding lots of signs and beating drums in a parade." \nThe proposed I-69 project began in 1989 to complete the North American Free Trade Agreement route from Mexico to Canada through the United States. According to the Indiana Student Public Interest Research Group, the proposed "3C" route preferred by the Indiana Department of Transportation and Gov. Mitch Daniels would cost Hoosiers about $1.7 billion, impact more than 4,000 acres of farmland and more than 1,000 acres of forest and habitat for the endangered Indiana bat.\nRoadless Summer, a group opposed to I-69 construction through the U.S., promoted the Statehouse rally before Saturday's protest.\n"We are hoping for an open-ended event that is both festive and inviting," the group wrote on its Web site, www.roadless-summer.org, before the event. "Bring noisemakers, banners and puppets!"\nSchoder-Ehri said he attended the protest as a form of nonviolent civil disobedience based on an e-mail he received from the Bloomington Circus Collective. The e-mail claims NAFTA has caused more than 30,000 lost jobs in Indiana alone.\nAccording to the e-mail, which promoted the event, the Department of Transportation is ignoring more than 150,000 people in Indiana who are opposed to I-69.\nThe e-mail stated: "For these reasons, and more, we hope to see you in Indianapolis this June 4th! Please bring drums, noisemakers, banners, and puppets. We hope to create a festive atmosphere of resistance to I-69."\nAbout half of those arrested are from Indiana and the other half arrested were residents of Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Georgia and Pennsylvania, One protester was also subdued with a Taser after she jumped on the back of a police officer.\nPhillips could not be reached by press time.\nThe Associated Press contributed to this story.