A University of Georgia student faces sanctions from the school’s student judiciary board after he was arrested in Atlanta during a protest on the steps of the state Capitol.
Adam Veale, a 20-year-old political science major from Augusta, said in an interview that he was stunned to learn he faced two violations from UGA’s Office of Student Conduct after the March 2 arrest in Atlanta.
The Red & Black, UGA’s student newspaper, reported that Veale and four other people from the nonprofit group Athens for Everyone were participating in a “Moral Monday” protest calling on the state to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. The student and 11 other protesters were charged with blocking the south steps of the rotunda outside the Capitol and then held for a night in the Fulton County Jail, the paper said.
The Office of Student Conduct notified Veale a few weeks later that he had violated the school’s code of conduct.
Veale turned down a deal with UGA that would have included 16 hours of community service and lunches with faculty members. Instead, he said, he’ll take his chances with a hearing before a judiciary panel on Friday.
“I was unsatisfied with that offer. We weren’t being reckless. This was an act of symbolic speech,” Veale said. “We were saying we’re not going to stand idly by while the governor and the Legislature refuses to expand Medicaid.”
Veale’s supporters include state Sen. Vincent Fort, D-Atlanta, who plans to testify on Veale’s behalf at the judiciary hearing. Former Athens mayoral candidate Tim Denson, who was arrested with Veale at the protest, is also expected to serve as a witness in support of Veale, the Red & Black reported.
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