For many Macalester students, feeling sad about the election results was simply not enough.

About forty students took their anger about the presidential election and the war in Iraq to the intersection of Grand and Snelling Avenues, which they physically blocked during a protest on Wednesday evening.

Police handcuffed two student protesters and held them in squad cars on the scene, but did not arrest the students and officers said that no charges would be filed. Officers released the students, MCSG President Michael Barnes ’06 and Dan Ettinger ’04, within an hour of their handcuffing.

“No one was arrested or charged,” said Paul Schnell, public information officer for the St. Paul Police Department.

The student protesters were united by their anger and disappointment with the presidential election results, but the motivations for attending the protest spanned a wide range of concerns.

Many students held up signs with slogans like “Fuck This War,” “What About the Other Fifty Percent,” and “Remove the Targets.”

“At a time like this, it just bursts out,” Jesse Sawyer ’07 said. “Everyone knew this election was going to be a breaking point.”

“It’s about the elections and the war,” Joe Schweigert ’08 said.

Adrian Kozlow ’05 said that he came in part to attract attention. “I came here to show my discontent with the political situation and to get some exposure,” Kozlow said.

Around 5 p.m., the group of students arrived at the intersection after leaving an anti-war protest on the Marshall Street bridge, where Women Against Military Madness has sponsored weekly protests since the beginning of the Iraq War.

Signs advertising the Marshall Street protest as an anti-war rally appeared across campus throughout the day. Perry Bellow-Handelman ’05 encouraged students watching Kerry’s concession speech in the campus center to attend the rally.

Susie Dyen ’07 said that the protest had no official leader and that the idea to block the intersection was somewhat spontaneous.

“We wanted to do something more than just stand around,” Peter Kirschmann ’07 said.

Immediately upon their arrival at the intersection, the student protesters blocked both streets with yellow tape and gathered in small groups throughout the intersection. Several students used a roll of butcher paper to block Grand Ave, while others held bicycles and boom boxes in the air. Some of the backed up cars managed to push their way through the intersection.

Many drivers reacted angrily to the protesters and responded with a chorus of honks and shouts. “I voted for Kerry. Is it alright if I get through?” one driver asked, leaning out his car window.

Another driver angrily yelled to protesters that he had already been to war and that he supported the war.

Protesters were able to block the intersection for about twenty minutes before St. Paul police arrived and disrupted the students’ activities. Quickly after officers appeared on the scene, nearly all the protesters took to the corners, crossing the street only when permitted by traffic lights.

“We were called there by motorists. That was the fundamental basis for our response,” Schnell said.

Around ten minutes after protesters cleared the intersection, officers pulled aside Barnes, who came to the intersection after the protesters had stopped blocking Grand and Snelling.

St. Paul police officer Tyrone Strickland said that they removed Barnes from the group because police are allowed by law to separate individuals that are inciting a crowd.

Officers frisked Barnes and made him stand with them near the police cars. “They were not letting me walk away, they were not letting me move,” Barnes said.

Around half an hour later, an officer handcuffed Barnes and attempted to put him in the police car. Barnes engaged in what he described as passive resistance and the officer had to struggle to get Barnes to comply. The officer urged him not to resist and eventually was able to put Barnes in the vehicle.

“He put a thumb to my throat and put me in the car,” Barnes said.

Schnell said the officers’ actions were in line with standard operating procedure. “We are allowed to conduct investigatory detention,” Schnell said. “Handcuffing is not uncommon.”

At first, officers said that Barnes was charged with “obstruction of due process,” but officers on the scene and Schnell later contradicted that statement.

Soon after Barnes was placed in the squad car, Ettinger was handcuffed and put in one of the other nine police cars on the scene. Schnell said that Ettinger was also detained for inciting the crowd.

Students responded with chants of “let them go” and “shame” directed at the police. The students largely perceived the handcuffing to be unnecessary.

“It’s bullshit,” Luce GuillÈn-Given ’06 said of the detainments.

Barnes was released from the car at about 7 p.m. and attempted to negotiate Ettinger’s release with officers. Ettinger was let out of the car at about 7:15 p.m.

Macalester/Groveland area resident Roberta Olson and her husband and son joined the protesters at around 7:30 p.m. “I was on my way to a prayer meeting, but I realized now is not the time for prayer. People need to speak out,” Olson said.

Several Bush supporters arrived at the protest with Bush/Cheney signs and debate promptly ensued. Olson engaged in a discussion with several St. Thomas students.

Despite the initial disruption, Bush supporters were on hand for the majority of the evening and were often ignored by the anti-war protesters. Eventually, one group of Macalester students reached an accord with a Bush supporter on the issue of state intervention in same-sex marriage.

This minor sense of bipartisanship was not felt by most of the Macalester protesters, however. “There isn’t going to be a healing process [for Democrats], despite pleas for unity,” Matt Pierce ’07 said. “This country will stay divided.”

Pierce joined the protest shortly after students stopped blocking the intersection. “I don’t have a sign, but I’m here because I believe in this,” he said.

According to Veronica Cassidy ’08, who witnessed the protest from its beginnings at the Marshall Street bridge, the group was divided as to whether they would block the intersection. According to Cassidy, the group chose this location because they felt comfortable in the area. Some criticized the choice to protest the war in a largely liberal area, however.

“This is not liberal versus conservative. It’s important to mobilize the Democratic base against war, as well as the Republicans. That’s why we’re here,” Cassidy said.

“We wanted to throw a wrench into everyday life,” Claire Stoscheck ’07 said. “On this day, we needed to disturb people’s lives and show solidarity.”.

“It’s therapeutic, but we’re not going to change anyone’s minds,” Kirschmann said.

A few bystanders were critical of the protesters’ overall display.

“This is ridiculous,” one neighborhood man said. “If my daughter was in high school, she wouldn’t be going to Macalester. I’d sent her to St. Thomas.”

As of 1 a.m. Thursday, a politically divided group of about twenty students and community members were still gathered at Grand and Snelling.