The State - News from Jan. 31, 1985

Ten attorneys and law students protesting the apartheid government of South Africa were arrested inside the Federal Building in San Francisco. The protesters, who linked hands to form a chain blocking the elevators, were told by police Sgt. Charles Thomas they were “unlawfully assembled” and had one minute to leave. Officers then handcuffed them and took them to a U.S. marshal’s detention facility, where they were charged with creating a disturbance and violating building regulations. The arrests came after a demonstration by about 100 people on the steps in front of the building, where lawyers and others connected with the legal profession expressed opposition to South Africa’s policies. David Oppenheimer, a professor at Boalt Hall Law School at University of California, Berkeley, and one of those later arrested, said: “Because apartheid is a legal system, it is important that lawyers lead the struggle against it.”