The Quadrangle

Issue date: 2/9/05 Section: News

On Monday, 31 January, members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force came to Manhattan College in order to conduct a search of Student David Segal's dorm room. Segal was arrested after allegations were made that he was responsible for vandalism of a United States Army Recruiting station in the Parkchester section of the Bronx.

According to CBS News, Segal was arrested by Metropolitan Transportation Authority Police around 7:30 a.m. Sunday morning. After police officers saw him crouching in a doorway with latex gloves on his hands, Segal was charged for the vandalism of the nearby building. A later search of his bag provided a note that detailed the attack, and its anti-government purposes. The recruitment station, less than 100 feet from the Westchester Square subway station, was also spray painted with an anarchist symbol, and expletives regarding the war in Iraq. The attack on the station was the first of two attacks on recruitment stations in New York City on Sunday; a recruitment center in the Flatiron district of Manhattan was also vandalized in an unrelated attack.

Segal is currently a junior at Manhattan College and one of the key contributors to the Radical Jasper magazine. A known activist to many students, Segal was involved with many activities both on and off the Manhattan campus, and was arrested stemming from anti-war protests during last August's Republican National Convention in New York City. With an arrest record stemming from political activism, Segal is reported to have been "red-flagged" by the Federal Bureau of Investigations, and a search warrant for his dorm room was pending by the end of the day. As information streamed in, a blue SUV containing officers from the Joint Terrorism Task Force arrived on campus, and moved toward Segal's room on the fifth floor of Jasper Hall. They, accompanied later by Campus Security, waited in the doorway of Segal's room as a search warrant was pending.

John Mark, the Residence Life Director for Manhattan, went to the scene in order to make sure that the rights of questioned students were upheld. Mark, an Attorney at Law, was very pleased with the manner in which authorities handled the situation on campus. He asserted that they waited patiently for the search warrant to be sent back to them, and that they were very helpful towards the faculty's needs while investigating the matter. Since the investigation is ongoing, the faculty at Manhattan College is currently looking at how the details of the case will shape up before making a final decision on Segal's status as a student. For now, he has been placed on Involuntary Leave of Absence.

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools