University of Virginia Library

Troopers Split,
Hit Blacksburg

By Rob Buford
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

Reports that the State Police
have departed from Charlottesville
would seem to be Verified by
yesterday's news of mass arrests at
Virginia Polytechnic Institute. A
notice scribbled late Tuesday on
the blackboard at Strike headquarters
read "The pigs have split."

At VPI. 107 arrests followed the
delivery early Wednesday of an
injunction similar to the one
obtained last week by the University
administration in an effort to
clear Maury Hall. In Blacksburg, the
students were not so willing to
cooperate.

The club-winging crew, who
were reported so tired last weekend
that their efficiency has been
impaired, now must surely be
exhausted. Unofficial reports from
the VPI campus have it that of the
demonstrators arrested, 75 were
able to escape out of the open door
of the truck in which they had been
placed.

Although it has been difficult
throughout the week to gain any
reliable information concerning
police activities in Charlottesville,
their now obvious absence from
local hotels and motels has been
noted by observers.

Governor Holton himself Tuesday
denied knowing how many
state policemen had been in town
during the weekend. Spokesmen for
the Department of Security have
been even less helpful in supplying
the press with reports on the police
presence. University administrators
seem to have been in the dark along
with everyone else.

On the assumption that the
police have gone to Blacksburg,
there are doubts as to what state
officials might do in the event that
trouble occurs at any other campuses
in Virginia. Governor Holton
has declared that he "will use
whatever force necessary" in dealing
with disturbances at colleges
and universities under his jurisdiction.

The National Guard is the next
step. The several hundred state
policemen available for "riot duty"
would hardly be sufficient if
trouble developed at two or more
campuses simultaneously. The
memory of Kent State is still clear,
and the location to National Guard
mobilization could spur more widespread
unrest than that which
already exists.

The Governor would not elaborate
on plans in the event of
further trouble. He will be leaving
for France in the next few days and
promises to keep in touch with
the situation here in Virginia. He
also said he would be ready to fly
home on short notice should
disturbances grow.

The operations of the State
Police, although shrouded in secrecy,
must only be hindered by the
size of the state. Hundreds of miles
separate potential trouble areas,
and meanwhile, motorists in Virginia
must be enjoying the absence of
speed traps on the highways.