Nude protester is arrested

The Department of Public Safety arrested yesterday a male protester who was parading naked along Middle Road in Puerto Rico while carrying his protest placard.

Zhang Shanguo, a Chinese national known for protesting against the Chinese Communist Party along the main streets of Saipan, was arrested by Department of Public Safety officers yesterday for indecent exposure.

Zhang has been conducting one-man protests in different areas of Saipan for many years now, but he is usually dressed. It was not immediately learned why he decided to go au naturel yesterday. Photos that went viral on social media showed Zhang marching stark naked in front of the MHII building in Puerto Rico with his huge signboard.

According to Department of Public Safety spokesperson Adrian Pangelinan, Zhang was arrested following complaints made by passersby at around 7:35am.

“The call came in at 7:35am and he was arrested at 7:44am. He was arrested for indecent exposure by the MH2 building intersection in Puerto Rico. He has been transferred [to the Department of Corrections] and will be detained there,” said Pangelinan.

Zhang is no stranger to DPS though. His rap sheet shows multiple arrests for various crimes and misdemeanors in the name of protesting against the CCP.

Recently, the U.S. District Court for the NMI dismissed the claims made by Zhang against public law enforcers whom he had accused of false arrest, excessive force, and deliberate indifference in violation of his Fourth, Eighth, and Fourteenth amendment rights. 

On Jan. 27, 2020, he was arrested by a police officer whom he accused of not giving him a written document why he was being arrested. For this arrest, he was detained for 94 days. 

Then in June 2021, he was arrested several times at the Saipan airport by police officers stationed there.

However, Zhang claims for each of these arrests, he did not commit any offense but was still held in prison for a short period of time and released without being charged. 

Notably, on June 15, 2021, Zhang threw a rock at a window at the Francisco C. Ada/Saipan International Airport to protest his mistreatment and then presented himself to be arrested. 

Zhang said police used force and violently pulled him to the ground even though Zhang was not resisting, resulting in him sustaining physical injuries. 

He said officers confiscated his signboards and never returned them to him.

While in prison, Zhang alleged that he was mistreated, assaulted twice, and did not receive the medical treatment that he needed, including for a fever above 40 degrees Celsius.