We have another successful “deplatforming” of a speaker at a university this week after Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA) had to be removed from an event at the University of Georgia. This follows incidents discussed this week involving student protests at Tulane and Maryland.
Rep. Collins was invited to speak on campus by the University of Georgia Turning Point USA chapter and College Republicans. His remarks, however, were drowned out by protesters screaming profanities and insults.
Collins attempted to discuss the recent death of Laken Riley, who was allegedly murdered by an illegal immigrant while jogging at the University of Georgia.
One student yelled “How dare you come on this campus and exploit Laken Riley’s death to push your xenophobic, fascist, racist, agenda…people are in this country legally and your f–king cops are gonna get them arrested and deported.”
Others just shouted profanities like “F**k you, you’re a b***h” or told the congressman to “take your white supremacist rhetoric elsewhere, your neo-nationalist rhetoric elsewhere.” Others attacked him for his support of Israel.
Some were led out of the event by police, but the coordinated interruptions succeeded and the congressman was reportedly escorted off campus.
Some groups like the College Democrats had called for protests but it is not clear whether these groups participated in the disruptions during the events.
Once again, this was done by students who were shown on videotape preventing opposing views from being spoken or heard on campus. The question is whether the University of Georgia will take steps to discipline the students and any groups who coordinated this effort. As discussed in a column this morning in the Hill, preventing free speech is not an act of free speech.
The argument that stopping free speech is free speech is nothing more than a twisted rationalization. Protesting outside of an event is an act of free speech. Entering an event to shout down or “deplatform” speakers is the denial of free speech. It is also the death knell for higher education in the United States.
The motto of the University of Georgia is Et docere et rerum exquirere causas, or “To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.” That inquiry cannot occur through a filter of screaming profanities and abuse. It is good that the university had security to remove disrupters but that is not enough. These coordinated efforts often involve students who stand up in succession to keep an event from being held.
If these “deplatformings” are to end, the university has to suspend or expel those responsible for such actions. Georgia must choose whether it will stand with free inquiry and free speech or whether it will yield to this entitled mob of speech-phobic students.
harassment isn’t speech
You can’t SHOUT PEOPLE DOWN…that isn’t FREE SPEECH…it is a CRIME.
We need to ARREST THESE PEOPLE!
Now, find yourself a prosecuting officer in any blue urban center who will do this. Until we fumigate the entire nation of this insidious concept or progressivism, we will achieve nothing in the way of change. We have allowed the progs to gain to much control of governments, media and education to effect a change through the courts.
Turning Point and Republican students and faculty need to go to every event on campus that has an administrator or liberal guest speaker and scream and shout at them. EVERY. SINGLE. EVENT. If nothing else, shout the names of conservative speakers who were shut down to make the message clear. That is the only way this will stop. If we’re too polite or too principled to fight fire with fire, we would be better to just sit down, shut up, and take it.
Theoretically, that sounds appropriate, but I have no doubt that there would be many incidents of physical harm done to those who would protest the protestors. You saw what happened in Seattle and Portland when any tried to push back against the mobs belonging to the prog/left… We need more force that people with signs to fight this at this late date. Perhaps if we had done this back in the 1980s it might have had a small effect, but even by then those on this path were well entrenched even back in the 50’s when they silence Tail Gunner Joe. – the had to stop him from exposing the depth of their infiltration even back then. See Adler’s theory of humanism to understand the deep nature of this infestation
I would like an response; Just how many of us truly understood obama’s smirking comment that he, (meaning his puppet masters too) was about to fundamentally transform this nation? Did anyone really comprehend just what that implied – well we are living through the middle of it right now and we have one last chance to stop this – and I don’t, necessarily mean Trump’s election as President, but by any means possible at this point. Check the stats – just how many avenues of action are still open to us.
What does the threat to democracy look like?
Look at the faces of those in the video.
Not sure why Turning Point isn’t filing a lawsuit against UGA and any other state university where this is happening. They’re a state university that appears not to be doing enough to protect the basic civil right’s of their guests and students. Just throwing out these people doesn’t seem to be enough. These organized disturbances look more like intimidation than lawful protest. This seems like a good test case for the SC to decide whether the “heckler’s veto” is a protected form of speech.
Just a reminder, you’ll soon be paying off their student loans too,
I’d say there’s a good chance they aren’t students at all, but paid protesters. Who are being paid by one of the many non-profits that received a chunk of the “inflation reduction act”. Everyone laughed at community organizers, now we’re seeing the damage that they can do.
I am certain that the labyrinth of paid, deluded and or tools for the prog/left is beyond classification at this point. I wouldn’t doubt that illegals can get extra cash on their free, pre-loaded debit cards for showing up in the provided t-shirt, mask and sign at any and all protests. This entire movement is so entrenched within the fabric of our society that it would be impossible to use the courts to end this. We should have listened to Tail Gunner Joe…
They’ve been taught by Professors who upon hearing that Jewish babies were roasted in ovens replied, “With or without baking powder.” The same Professors who ignore the pledge to kill all Jews found in the Hamas Charter. The same Professors who ignore that Palestinian school children are taught to hate Jews. So then, is it a surprise that these students who have been indoctrinated by their beloved Professors would believe that they have a right to limit the speech of their fellow citizens. They have indeed taught your children well. Hyperbole you say, where have the leftist Professors been in condemning the baby cookers. Nary to be found.
TiT,
That is why I fear for my Jewish friends. At some point, it will not be enough for these protesters just to shout someone down.
Are we remembering pre-war Germany by any chance? We spent 4 years of blood and treasure trying to stop this very thing and now, here we are with anti-Semitism all around and our sworn enemies of 9/11 running a good part of our own governments and teaching our children. Why didn’t anyone step up until now and point this out? I have been comparing the progressive cult to islamic jihadists for a decade or more – same type of cult, mutual goal – the destruction of the West.
Being the wife of an orthodox Rav, I know what the peril is. This past Hanukah we didn’t dare place the menorah in the window for fear of reprisal – almost like living in 1930’s Germany. And it is going to get a great deal worse since even the N*zis didn’t fly planes into buildings or rape and murder people at a celebration as the islamic jihadists did on Oct 7. Ask yourself just how so many islamists, after the hard lesson of 9/11 have procured positions of power within this nation? Just how did the nephew of Farrakhan get elected to congress much less become minority leader of the House?
UpstateFarmer said: “At some point, it will not be enough for these protesters just to shout someone down.”
That is the second most important reason that exercise of 2A rights is vital. I trust we all know the first.
“At some point, it will not be enough for these protesters just to shout someone down.”
Thank you for caring, Upstate. The young people we saw were Nazis in training. Our job is to open their eyes before they become full-blown Nazis.
O T – Donald Trump is charged by Jack Smith for “obstructing justice” by refusing to comply with an FBI subpoena for classified records. Oddly enough, the DOJ itself is quite happy to refuse to comply with Congressional subpoenas. Headline: “Judge berates Justice Department for defying House GOP subpoenas tied to Biden impeachment inquiry” https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/judge-berates-doj-republican-subpoenas-hunter-biden-probe-rcna146681
True – and we see it and we do nothing about it but talk… It is going to take more than that to fumigate this nation of its putrid infestation.
Prof Turley translates “Et docere et rerum exquirere causas” as “To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.” (This appears to be how the University itself translates the phrase.) But the word “serve” is not in this motto. Docere means “to teach” and exquirere means “to inquire”. I suspect this is part of their problem.
Puerile
The future leaders of the Democratic Party on display.
They remind me of toddlers who bang their sippy cup on the high chair.
Because they are…
Defund the University of Georgia
Refusing information is the true sign of ignorance and cultism. These troglodytes are so ignorant of their own ignorance that it infuriates me that one cent of my tax dollars are used to provide any aide to them.
; either in tuition assistance, federal grant monies to their school or even monies spent on their academic staffs. We are being swindled to fund our own national demise.
The behavior of those students is ignorant and disrespectful!
They have no right to violate another person’s freedom of speech.
If you are of a mind that still remembers the respect and awe we felt just to be in an academic setting (pre-1969 as I was) you would feel this way. Not these progeny of our hippie/prog/woke/one-world utopianists. They do not see the world as we did – they have been raised to challenge and change everything because they were told that this was (To coin a phrase) “The Dawning of the Age of Aquarious” etc etc etc. We have legions of ill-educated tools primed to be used in this “fundamental transformation” of this nation and the western world.
Why wouldn’t this work? Institute a system where attendance at such events requires a free pass that is secured by a pledge of acceptable behavior, which specifies significant academic and financial penalties for violations. This could easily be done via students phones. That is, of course, assuming that the university administration really wants to control these incidents.
Ah, there’s the rub…finding an academic who has a sense of decency and intelligence.
I think this would have worked for the Raskin protest at U Md just as well. And ultimately, it really does not curtail free speech. If the student wants so badly to repeatedly interrupt the speaker that he or she is willing to be suspended or expelled and forfeit paid tuition in exchange, that student would be free to complete that transaction.
Again, did you listen to Elise Stefanik question the presidents of 4 universities – there is no one in academia who would do this. At least no one who wants to stay employed.
whimsicalmama said: “there is no one in academia who would do this. ”
In which case there would appear to be no reason for any reasonable person to speak at such a university. I’m sure there is a speaker’s fee, but under the circumstances you assume, it would be explicitly compensation for absorbing abuse. If that is the case, I have limited sympathy for the speaker, who either believes he or she can take the abuse and that the compensation is worth it, or is too stupid to anticipate it. If I accepted $100 to stand in a low-income residential neighborhood in Stockton, CA, at midnight, and repeatedly shout the n-word at the top of my lungs, I would fully deserve the consequences of my stupidity, regardless of my 1A rights.
You are correct to a certain extent, but I feel that there are some who naively think that if they speak the truth to these indoctrinated thugs they could impart some wisdom to them – to which I say “you would have better luck talking to a brick wall”. I am not sure if they are idealists or just in it for the speaking fees… either way, it is apparent that talking to the braindead is a waste of time; like reasoning with the zombies of the Apocalypse.
And in another example of the Woke Democrat Left trying to avoid unpleasant realities, I present:
Boston hospital to scale back on child abuse and neglect reports that can perpetuate ‘structural racism’
A Boston, Massachusetts, hospital announced Tuesday that after finding Black mothers were more likely to be reported for child abuse and neglect if a toxicology report came back positive, it would be taking steps to reevaluate the process in order to avoid perpetuating “structural racism.”
“Black pregnant people are more likely to be drug tested and to be reported to child welfare systems than white pregnant people,” said Mass General Brigham, a nonprofit health care system.
“As a part of our United Against Racism effort to achieve health equity for patients and communities across our system, we… are addressing policies that may unwittingly perpetuate structural racism,” Mass General stated.
In order to alleviate the inequity, as the hospital sees it, Mass General will “update policies that automatically trigger mandatory filings with child welfare agencies when a pregnant individual is engaged in treatment for substance use disorder, absent any other concerns for potential abuse or neglect.”
The automatic trigger policy for drug-using mothers “disproportionately impact patients from historically marginalized populations,” the hospital stated.
The new policy says reports “after delivery should be filed only if there is reasonable cause to believe that the infant is suffering or at imminent risk of suffering physical or emotional injury and that ‘substance exposure’ alone, including treatment with methadone or buprenorphine for opioid use disorder, does not require a report of abuse or neglect in the absence of protective concerns for the infant.”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13277473/Connecticut-Dem-Robyn-Porter-new-legislation-amended-phrase-mothers.html
Good for her! I saw this –
“Lawmakers voted 32-16 to adopt the term ‘mothers’ following a 35-minute debate.
The unexpected decision was achieved through a coalition of Republicans and members of the legislature’s black and Puerto Rican Caucus – with all 16 opposing votes coming from Democrats.”
Farm4501,
‘My children call me mother, ma, mommy. It depends on the day,’ Porter said Thursday. ‘I don’t answer to pregnant person or birthing person. That’s not what I answer to.’
A awesome display of common sense.
Good for her!
I saw that and wondered if these progs care more about keeping statistics that support their agendas than they do the lives of these babies who will continue to be born to ignorant, selfish, parasites that we pay to keep alive via our welfare programs. Really supporting your Hippocratic oath there, aren’t you.
I hope donors to the university take note.
I’m sure the prog/left donors are as pkeased as punch at what they have fostered. This goes generations deeper thsn the current class of indoctrinated tools.
It’s so easy, just expel them once and these “protests” will stop.
Just arrest “protestors” blocking streets once, give them prison time and the “protests” will stop.
It is so easy.
It’s not easy when those in charge are in agreement – in fact, I wouldn’t doubtthat they instigate most of this.
whimsicalmama: Well, it is obvious to a few of us that the administration of nearly every higher education institution agrees with the whiney know-nothing protestors. Also, they fear them, hence no corrective action is taken. The Bill Ayers types now run the show: belligerent, loud, and obnoxious.
And we need to ask ourselves how this happened – yes – the silent majority of conservatives cast a blind eye while this was happening instead of vigorously pushing back, when pushing back might have made a difference. Now we are in a totally different situation and talking about it is NEVER going to change things at this point. I doubt if Trump (or any republican) will ever be elected again if things don’t make a major change. (I truly think that the only reason Trump won in 2016 is that he caught the left flat-footed – which will never happen again) We are in a deep mess and there is only one way out at this point.
The Woke NeoMarxist radical left ‘repressive tolerance’ anti-Freedom of Speech movement continues apace in our institutions of higher indoctrination, er, learning. Sad, and pathetic.
Once again, the Democrat Left shows their fear of Reality.
They don’t fear reality – they disregard it as a roadblock to their agenda.