Minutemen Protest at CU (Follow Up)

Spanish-language news station Univision has video footage on the melee that ended the Minutemen speaking event last Wednesday night at Columbia University.

The video shows a man wearing a blue baseball cap kicking a protestor during the chaotic rush to the stage. This act, according to protestors, supports their claim that violence was being perpetrated by the Minutemen and their supporters.

Karina Garcia, CC '07 and political chair of the Chicano Caucus, was one of the students on stage stated that she saw protestors being hit and kicked as they tried to climb onto the stage, and one friend was kneed in the stomach.

Another unidentified man was seen trying to tear down the white banner held by several students.

Columbia Spectator - Kicking Visible in Univision Footage

From the video footage, I would definitely agree that the Minutemen supporter should be arrested for assaulting a fellow protestor. However, I cannot support the protestors' arguments that the violence was all the fault of the Minutemen, the College Republicans, and their supporters.

Who rushed the stage? The protestors. They knew by thrusting the environment surrounding the Minutemen, supporters, and security guards into a more hostile atmosphere, physical violence would occur. How can they explain a person trying to take away their banner was an act of violence? They shove and the supporters shove back, and the protestors cry foul, saying they are the victims, and what they were doing was self-defense?!? Ridiculous!

Next, the campus newspaper critcises the media for resorting to sensationalism over the Minutemen protest. In particular, they targeted Fox News for their "unbalanced" coverage of the event. Yet when their editorial mentioned that other controversial speakers such as Norman Finkelstein and John Ashcroft met with peaceful protest, did they also compare the amount of security that were present at those events? Probably not. One would assume that if the amount of security available at Ashcroft's lecture was same for the Minutemen, it was likely that no serious disruption would have occurred.

They argued that the media failed to take into account that the whole student body is not crazy as the protestors that rushed the stage, the provocative actions of the speakers, and the alleged involvement of the College Republicans during the melee.

I am sure most will realise that the whole entire student body are not dedicated to violence and suppressing free speech. Discussing the provocative actions of the speakers is subject to interpretation. Sometimes in order to get the message through, being straightforward and blunt is the best way. If people cannot tolerate such messages without resorting to the use of physical violence, how can we argue in this society? There was supposed to have been a Q&A after the Minutemen speeches. This would have provided a great opportunity for some of the protestors to try to argue the Minutemen's plans. College Republican involvement in the melee should be taken as part of a larger picture. It would seem there was shoving and one or two acts of violence that occurred among their side, but to me, you want the media to concentrate all their efforts on them instead of the protestors. From what I have read, you stated that the protestors went too far. That's pretty light criticism as far as I can tell.

Explain to me how it goes when a group of protestors rushes the stage, should the speaker, the College Republicans, and supporters just let them on and do nothing?

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Columbia University Senate's student affairs committee unanimously passed a Resolution on Free Speech.

The statement is intended to establish a policy for future conflicts over free speech. Encompassing the rights of both speakers and protesters, the statement says, in part, that "the Student Body of Columbia University has a right to invite speakers with varied points of view to campus, and it is unacceptable within our community, to take away someone else's right to express their opinions and viewpoints. ... The Student Affairs Caucus stands behind the principles of free speech on campus, and demands that the Columbia University Community stand firm in our commitment to allow all views to be heard."

Much of the deliberation centered on Wednesday night's events, when student protesters rushed the stage, leading to a brawl and cutting short the speech of Jim Gilchrist, founder of the anti-illegal-immigration Minuteman Project.

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Columbia Spectator - Protestors Hold Press Conference

Late this morning, about a dozen undergraduates who protested last week's speech by Minutemen founder Jim Gilchrist convened a press conference with representatives from the National Lawyer's Guild. The students, many of them members of the Chicano Caucus and the International Socialist Organization, defended their actions.

Karina Garcia, CC '07 and Chicano Caucus political chair, said Monday that she and the other protesters had not intended to stop Gilchrist from speaking when they unfurled a pair of banners onstage, but she defended their actions.

"We are sure that if the Ku Klux Klan came to campus, African Americans would be there to protest," Garcia said. "So would we."

(Lesson 1 - Use an obvious example to support your actions)

Martin Lopez, CC '09 and a native of Southern California, identified himself at the conference as the individual who is shown being kicked in the head in Univision video footage of the event. Pressed by a crowd of reporters to describe the incident, Lopez pointed to a series of grainy black-and-white printouts hanging behind him, which showed a frame-by-frame sequence of the attack.

"I am fearful for the immigrants on that southern border if Gilchrist supporters were able to bring violence into a prestigious university," Lopez said.

(Lesson 2 - Use the "victim" as part of your sympathetic message.)

Basically, they are providing an argument that they were victims of overzealous violence conducted by the Minutemen, College Republicans, and their supporters, and that their rush to the stage was actually "peaceful."

It was unfortunate for Lopez who got injured during the melee. I just find it unsettling to see these people use this press conference to paint themselves as the victims.

O'Reilly Factor was in Chicago and they discussed the Columbia incident: