Press Conference Statement of May 1, 2007:

Good afternoon. I am Aimee Smith, spokesperson for the Committee to Defend Catherine Wilkerson. I want to thank all the members of the press in attendance today. It is the role of the press in a democratic society to provide the check on abuses of power by those in the government. Your attention to this case demonstrates that you take that role seriously.

The Committee to Defend Catherine Wilkerson formed to support Dr. Wilkerson in her effort to seek justice for the harm she experienced at the hands of a police officer and for the subsequent charges she faces apparently as a result of filing a complaint with the Ann Arbor Police about that treatment.

The Committee to Defend Catherine Wilkerson is made up of friends, concerned community members and fellow peace and justice advocates from across the country. We are united by our shared concern that police intimidation and police brutality must not be tolerated in a society that claims to cherish freedom of speech. Whether intentionally or not, the Ann Arbor Police sent a clear message to the community by charging Dr. Wilkerson only after she had filed a complaint of misconduct against one of their officers. Are police officers beyond criticism? Do they never make mistakes? We call on the Ann Arbor Police to reprimand their officer and work to have these ridiculous charges dropped.

The University of Michigan has also sent clear a message to the community that it is OK to use armed police to silence dissenting speech in the university setting. Rather than apologize to those whose rights were abridged and faced physical attack by their officers, they also appear to have charged a professor in response to her daring to complain to the administration about violating their own free speech policy.

We call on the University of Michigan to correct the message and work to have the charges against Dr. Wilkerson dropped. We also urge them to train their public safety officers to uphold their freedom of speech policy rather than thwart it. And we ask that they hold the officers responsible for the silencing of speech and harming of protesters.