5 Americans Are Arrested for Protest in Beijing

August 20, 2008
5 Americans Are Arrested for Protest in Beijing
By ANDREW JACOBS and COLIN MOYNIHAN

BEIJING — In their latest confrontation with pro-Tibetan protesters during the Olympics, Chinese authorities arrested five Americans on Tuesday after they spelled out “Free Tibet” with blue L.E.D. lights near the National Stadium. Three other people, including a New York artist who fashions giant displays with lasers on buildings, were detained for a separate protest.

Representatives of the group Students for a Free Tibet, which organized both protests, said they had yet to hear from those who had been detained. “We’re always worried when someone is in Chinese detention,” said Lhadon Tethong, the executive director of the group.

Since Aug. 8, members of the organization have staged seven protests involving 37 people. All of those who were detained were promptly deported.

On Tuesday, five protesters hoisted a banner near the National Stadium, known as the Bird’s Nest, around 11 p.m. and projected their message in Chinese and English using blue lights. The display lasted just 20 seconds before the police intervened, organizers said. The arrested protesters were Amy Johnson, 33, Sam Corbin, 24, Liza Smith, 31, Jacob Blumenfeld, 26, and Lauren Valle, 21.

Less information was available about the other three detained protesters, who intended to use lasers to spell out “Free Tibet” on a Beijing landmark. Organizers said it was unclear which landmark was to have been used.

The project’s mastermind, James Powderly, 31, is a Brooklyn artist who recently showed his work at an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York entitled “Design and the Elastic Mind.” His wife, Michelle Kempner, said he had planned to show his work at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing but withdrew after learning the contents of the show would be subject to official approval.

She said he had invented a laser stencil the size of a flashlight that can throw beams of light 30 feet high. The device is powered by a small battery. Before arriving in China on Friday, Mr. Powderly told her that his goal was to spell the words “Free Tibet” on a prominent building near Tiananmen Square, she said.

Two video bloggers, Brian Conley, 28, and Jeffrey Rae, 28, were with Mr. Powderly when he was detained. On Tuesday night, he sent a text message to a friend saying he had been held since 3 a.m. on Monday.

“James has always been dedicated to providing tools for free speech,” Ms. Kempner said in a telephone interview. “I’m trying not to think about it because it makes me nervous, but I’m also really confident.”

Ms. Tethong of Students for a Free Tibet said other protesters were still in Beijing and that more actions were planned for the coming days. Given the tight security, she said she was pleased with the results so far. “Considering how badly the Chinese leadership doesn’t want Tibet to be talked about, I think it would be considered a success,” she said.

She said she was more concerned with the plight of protesters in Tibet. In recent days, she said, at least three people have reportedly been killed in the city of Ganzi after protesting on the street. She said one woman, Dolma Yungzom, was shot five or six times point blank after she unfurled a banner, though Ms. Tethong provided no evidence.

Andrew Jacobs reported from Beijing, and Colin Moynihan from New York.