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Students, Wisconsin activists take road to D.C.

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UW-Madison students, including members of the Madison Area Peace Coalition attended a slew of rallies this weekend in Washington, D.C. The rallies centered on issues of terrorism, globalization and environmental concerns.

Several students from UW-Milwaukee were detained on their way to the rally Friday because one person’s name resembled that of someone on a national anti-terrorism database, authorities said.

Upon further examination, officials learned the suspect was not the criminal, and the 20 detainees—half of the original group—were provided a hotel stay by Midwest Express Airlines and a flight early Saturday.

John Douglas, a group member who boarded Friday’s flight, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel he thought airline officials were out of line.

“This was an abusive use of state power to control a population,” he said. “We are law-abiding citizens.”

Lisa Bailey, director of corporate communications for Midwest Express, told the Journal Sentinel the enhanced security measures were created after Sept. 11.

“It is not the airline’s responsibility to screen passengers,” she said. “We did everything we could for them. We put them up last night, and we had them put on an early flight this morning.”

Gene Marshall, a member of UW Greens, said everyone from UW-Madison had gotten to Washington and that they would be returning today and Tuesday.

Saturday’s marches focused on pro-Palestinian protests against Israel occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and Sunday’s demonstrations were dominated by global economic issues. The policies of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, who were holding meetings over the weekend, were scrutinized.