We have been following the rise of political violence on the left, particularly on our campuses. Some of this violence has been committed by faculty and administrators, as was recently the case at the University of Wisconsin. A video shows Washington State University instructor and PhD student Patrick Mahoney allegedly assaulting engineering student Jay Sani for wearing a Trump-related hat.
Sani was shown wearing a “Take America Back” hat and police say that Mahoney took him down and then “said ‘F**k you or f**k off’ to Sani before walking away.” The police report identifies a second suspect as Gerald Hoffin in the attack.
The story appeared on KTTH and the incident was captured on video surveillance.
When the officer interviewed Mahoney later, the instructor appeared unapologetic for an attack on the “ol’ boy”:
“I asked Mahoney what happened tonight. Mahoney said that he saw ‘ol’ boy’ walking around. Mahoney did not name Sani by name but said ‘I’ve seen this guy, f**king, on campus before. I know he’s like f**king Right Wing dude. He’s got a f**king, like, Make America Great Again
hat.”
The Daily Evergreen reports that Mahoney, a WSU instructor and a PhD student in the School of Politics, Philosophy, and Public Affairs, has been suspended.
These attacks are being fueled by rage rhetoric on the left, including Democratic leaders insisting that democracy is about to come to an end and encouraging their followers to fight back. Former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger just called on people to get ready to “take to the streets” because the political system is failing them. (This is the same Adam Kinzinger who previously denounced Trump and others for reckless rhetoric: “Look violent rhetoric is wrong, and has no place. But MAGA pretending they didn’t light this fire is gaslighting to the 100th power.”).
What this video shows is the license afforded by the rage, allowing people to do and say things that they would not ordinarily say or do. The justification from this instructor was that Sani had the audacity to walk around openly supporting President Trump on campus. He believed that he had leave to assault him for that political expression.
What is funny, if it were not so tragic, is that these individuals are attacking those with opposing political views in the name of “saving democracy.” According to a new survey from DailyMail.com/J.L., Trump won the popular vote and is currently at a record 56 percent in popularity.
One does not have to agree with those people or the poll to recognize that he was elected by over 70 million voters in the democratic process. Yet, this Washington State instructor believes that he has a license to attack anyone who is openly supporting the President.
One would expect that any teaching opportunities for Mahoney are quite limited, but many faculty members have espoused violent sentiments toward Republicans or conservatives. Some have been promoted or lionized for their positions.
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro professor of public interest law at George Washington University and the author of “The Indispensable Right: Free Speech in an Age of Rage.”
I’ve seen these overly-enraged leftists in numerous places. They lack the discipline and trustworthiness to do anything positive in the private sector, so they gravitate toward agitation, politics, and academia to make a living. Many of them are downright parasites, and the world would be better off without them. Such is one of the reasons for http://www.unitedfreestates.com. Just as in the beginnings of the United States, we who value freedom and morality will some day separate from the rest and migrate to start a new greatest nation in history.
Finally a report about this in the local pullman paper. The report stated that the perp acted with one other and they have been disenrolled from WSU.
King5, an important Seattle-based broadcaster for the entire western Washington area, had a report about the firing of the WSU instructor, not clearly indicating that he was a graduate student.
Not surprisingly, this is getting relatively little media attention in Eastern Washington. The Spokesman Review in Spokane has 0 stories about it. Only one of the four television stations have run a story about it. I wonder why?
The notion that some ideas are so egregious that they must be made illegal is gaining ground.