Dan Mathews, vice president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, is arrested in the Square yesterday with five other protestors, including a Harvard student. Chanting “Fur out, love in,” Mathews avoids the media.

Wearing nothing but colorful underwear and strategically placed tape, one Harvard undergraduate joined five similarly clad representatives from the People for the Ethical Treatment for Animals (PETA) in a protest in Harvard Square that ended in the arrest of all six participants on misdemeanor charges.

According to Cambridge Police Department spokesperson Frank D. Pasquarello, the five PETA affiliates and the undergraduate, Kristin M. Waller ’05, were charged with disorderly conduct and indecent exposure. They were released last night on $40 bail and will be arraigned today.

As part of their “Rather go naked than wear fur” campaign, PETA staged the protest to raise awareness of the treatment of animals on fur farms. As other PETA employees passed out leaflets criticizing animal abuse, the six near-naked protestors posed for the massive crowd of students, press, police and local residents, while attempting to recreate a 1960s “love in.”

The protesters held teddy bears and heart shaped signs in front of their bodies and staged a pillow fight on a mattress outside the Harvard T station, all while chanting, “Love in, Fur Out.”

“We’re here because we care. We’re bare in Harvard square. Wearing fur’s not fair. We’re in our underwear,” shouted PETA Vice President Dan Mathews, sporting only Spongebob SquarePants boxer shorts.

Mathews was scheduled to speak yesterday in Religion 1529, “Personal Choice and Global Transformation,” taught by Lecturer on the Study of Religion Brian C.W. Palmer ’86, but could not attend because he was still under arrest.

According to Pasquerello, Cambridge police were on hand for crowd and traffic control and made arrests based on their observations of the protestors’ actions.

But Mathews, who said the city repeatedly denied his requests for a protest permit, said the protesters were misled by police.

“They told us to move on from the Square but I asked the officer if we could cross the street and as soon as we crossed the street, they came up behind us with handcuffs,” he said.

Mathews said the protestors “weren’t breaking any laws,” only trying to raise awareness.

“At the end of the day, this is a free country and we have to be able to peacefully protest,” he said.

Speaking from his phone in a Cambridge jail cell, Mathews was optimistic about his situation and said PETA lawyers are examining the case.

“[The cell is] nothing compared to the disgusting cages on a fur farm,” he said. “It is a small price to pay.”

Calling the arrest “unwarranted,” Mathews—who has held similar events in cities such as London, Paris and Los Angeles—said he has never encountered similar problems with police previously.

“[It’s] a bit puzzling,” he said. “We have done these all over the world and there has never been a problem with the law before.”