Although Bar Am said the protesters dispersed when the police asked them to, Miami-Dade County Police told the Miami Herald that demonstrators were not following police instructions.

“If we didn’t act when we did, it would have been worse,” Miami Police Chief John Timoney told the Associated Press.

Video footage shot by Toussaint G. Losier ’04—who, with his press credentials, managed to avoid arrest—showed a crowd of about twenty-five protesters, facing at least as many officers, with members of the media surrounding the entire group.

The protest Friday started initially in front of the Miami jail where protesters arrested Thursday were being held, but had moved several streets away by the time the Harvard students arrived.

Elfenbein said that “the entire city was paved over with riot cops.”

The four were released after spending the night in jail on bail ranging from $500 to $1,500, which was posted by Hayden and Beckett’s family.

All four were charged with misdemeanors—including criminal mischief and disobeying a police officer—and may have to appear in court in Miami.

Hayden, a former California State Senator and 60’s-era civil rights protester, said he thought the charges would be dropped.

The students were all members of Hayden’s IOP study group, “Activism Now!: Students, Sweatshops and Globalization.”