Six people in an environmentalist group received trespass warnings after attempting to enter the McKnight Brain Institute.
A group of organizers for the Campaign to Stop Genetically Engineered Trees, an initiative by the Global Justice Ecology Project, said they were trying to see on Saturday the room where they would host their presentation, despite being told on Thursday presentation had been canceled. The group was scheduled to present Monday night at the institute.
Police found six people trying to enter the locked building, according to accounts in the University Police’s incident report. One UF student was among the six: 28-year-old William Brandon Jones said he tried using his Gator 1 card to get inside the building because he had reserved a room for the presentation. Jones could not be reached for comment.
Witnesses called police after they saw the group trying to catch doors before they closed behind personnel and even had one member of the group, Rachel Kijewski, ask about entering the building to get a backpack, according to the report.
“(UPD) were rather confrontational,” said Kijewski, an organizer with Everglades Earth First! “It wasn’t clear what was going on.”
Jones was trespassed from the Health Science Center, and the rest of the group was issued trespass warnings for all UF properties. The warnings stand for three years.
UF spokeswoman Janine Sikes said the event was canceled because free space is only offered to registered UF-sponsored organizations. A Global Justice Ecology organization is not registered at UF.
“They were very deceptive,” Sikes said.
She said Jones, who was corresponding with the director of the institute, was notified the meeting had been canceled. A room in the building was reserved by Jones on Sept. 30, according to emails obtained by the Alligator.
A UF-led research team received a $6.3 million grant in 2011 to genetically enhance the chemical responsible for creating the scent of Christmas trees to make transportation biofuels, according to Alligator archives.
Will Bennington, one of the six who trespassed Saturday, said he thinks the event was canceled for political reasons.
“It seems kind of unlikely that the room is mysteriously closed for repairs,” the campaigner with the Global Justice Ecology Project said. “It’s pretty likely they’re trying to silence our opinion.”
The group presented at the Civic Media Center in Gainesville on Sunday. As of Monday, it planned to continue its scheduled presentation at a member’s house.
A version of this story ran on page 3 on 10/29/2013 under the headline "Environmental group trespasses at UF"
