Pussy Riot steps in to support arrested Harvard protester

Pussy Riot, a Russian punk rock band, led a group of fans to the Cambridge Police Department to lend their support to a Harvard alumnus banned from entering the school’s campus.  Roman Torgovitsky was previously arrested and banned from Harvard’s campus in May after jumping onstage during a concert in protest of violinist Vladimir Spivakov, who signed a letter backing Russia’s actions in Ukraine. Torgovitsky was arrested Monday night for breaking the ban to attend a Harvard panel featuring Pussy Riot.

In an interview with The Stream, Torgovitsky said he explained his situation to Pussy Riot during the school forum, and asked the duo for advice on how to politically engage with Harvard given his ban from entering the university. He says he ended his question by addressing Harvard police, asking them to either arrest him or to start a dialogue with university faculty and students. The police did not act until after the event, when they arrested Torgovitsky as he left to attend a reception with Masha Alekhina and Nadya Tolokonnikova, members of Pussy Riot.

“It’s sort of disturbing, because if they believe that they should arrest me, I don’t see a reason why they could not arrest me in front of the eyes of their students. If they’re ashamed of arresting me, then they should not be arresting me at all,” Torgovitsky said.

After Torgovitsky’s arrest, Alekhina and Tolokonnikova tweeted that they were looking into the incident, and urged their followers to join.