Protest follows Purdue student's arrest for 'terroristic mischief'

By SOPHIA VORAVONG
Journal and Courier
Nov. 30, 2009

Wesley Allen has never met Roy C. Sun, a Purdue University student suspected of "terroristic mischief" after a closed box was found in a building on the West Lafayette campus.

Nonetheless, Allen organized a rally Monday afternoon to support Sun, 21, and protest what he deemed was an overzealous arrest by the Purdue University Police Department.

Inside the package were $20, a wheel lock and a parking ticket that was issued to Sun a week ago.

"It's crazy that someone trying to pay a parking ticket could be arrested for terrorism," said Allen, 24, a Purdue graduate student. "It's not right."

Sun is one of three people suspected of leaving the package in a hallway Thursday morning at Purdue's Visitor Information Center -- prompting an evacuation of the building off Northwestern Avenue.

Parking tickets can be paid in person at that facility.

About a dozen people took part in Monday's rally, which took place on Northwestern Avenue, about 50 yards from the Visitor Information Center.

They passed out fliers encouraging people to contact Tippecanoe County Prosecutor Pat Harrington and "Free Roy Sun!"

Harrington said Monday that his office has received part of Purdue's investigation.

The prosecutor's office is waiting on more information to determine what criminal charges, if any, will be filed against Sun. A terroristic mischief offense has never been filed during Harrington's three years in office.

It also was the first such arrest by Purdue University police, according to Chief John Cox. He said the Visitor Information Center was open at the time the box was left.

"The clerk was there," Cox said Monday. "If his intent was to pay his ticket, the clerk was there. But they went around the corner, into a hallway and out of view.

"That's where the box was left."

Cox said the package was closed and folded shut. The box itself was wrapped, which prompted authorities to believe it was suspicious.

The wheel lock inside had been placed Wednesday on Sun's vehicle because it allegedly had a parking permit that did not belong to him.

Cox did not immediately have information on the permit's actual owner or whether it was borrowed.

But he said investigators consider the permit to be stolen property.

Sun was released Friday from the Tippecanoe County Jail after posting a $10,000 surety bond. He declined to comment Monday on his arrest or the protest.

"Me and my lawyer will give a proper press release when the time is appropriate," Sun said.

He declined to provide the name of his Lafayette-based attorney.

Cox said Sun's total fine for the wheel lock and the ticket was $150. He said Sun was able to show investigators how exactly he removed the wheel lock.

"The arrest was based on the facts of the case and the part of the law that it violated," Cox said.

In Indiana, terroristic mischief is defined as knowingly or intentionally placing a device with the intent to cause a reasonable person to believe that it is a weapon of mass destruction.

Cox said investigators are still trying to interview the two other people involved.

Protesters on Monday also carried signs that were flashed to passing drivers and pedestrians. One of them, using symbols, read: "Police Math: $ plus box equals bomb?"












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