February 23, 1995
Police arrested Associated Students Legislator Jason "Quaddus" Archie, 26, in a class Tuesday night and escorted him from the Humanities Building in handcuffs.
The arrest was made after the University Police Department received a complaint that Archie, the ethnic studies representative to the AS, had a verbal confrontation with a teacher in a morning class, according to an AS source who asked not to be named.
Three UPD officers and a fourth unidentified officer were seen taking Archie from the classroom. The unidentified officer pressed Archie against the wall and placed the handcuffs on him.
"Ironically enough, we were talking about the African slave trade," at the time of the arrest, the teacher of the class from which he was taken, women studies professor Chinosole, said.
Archie, a senior black studies major, was arrested for a parole violation and taken to the San Francisco County Jail, according to UPD Sgt. Kirk Gaston. The UPD would not answer repeated calls as of press time Wednesday night.
According to a San Francisco County Jail spokesman, Archie was transferred to San Quentin State Prison Wednesday afternoon.
Miriam Joscelyn, acting assistant regional administrator for the Department of Corrections, said Archie was on parole as a result of a voluntary manslaughter conviction in 1987. The conviction stemmed from an incident in Sacramento County in which a man died from a knife wound inflicted by Archie. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison and served six.
Archie was released on parole in November 1993 and began his studies at SF State two months later.
On Wednesday morning, AS distributed a flyer that said the arrest violated the rights of all students and contradicted prescribed policy.
After a press conference with civil rights leader Rosa Parks, some AS officers spoke out against Archie's arrest.
AS President Cristina Lopez said the UPD did not follow proper procedure.
"(The arrest) was against university protocol," she said. "Other actions should have been taken by the university."
According to the university bulletin, UPD has the authority to make arrests immediately after a complaint is made.
Archie's friends and associates staged a rally Wednesday to protest the arrest. They set up a table and distributed flyers to people waiting in line for a scheduled speech featuring Parks.
Tharon Weighill, a history graduate student who was with the AS protestors, sang Native-American songs in front of the table as a child beat on a drum.
"We were up all night long trying to get him (Archie) out," Weighill said. "We tried to contact a lawyer to help us pro bono."
Attempts by Weighill and friends to get information about Archie proved futile, Weighill said.
Elizabeth Perez, Linda Burbank and Mark Friedman contributed to this report.