Maryam Alwan figured the worst was over after New York City police in riot gear arrested her and other protesters on the Columbia University campus, loaded them onto buses and held them in custody for hours.
But the next evening, the college junior received an email from the university. Alwan and other students were being suspended after their arrests at the “ Gaza Solidarity Encampment,” a tactic colleges across the country have deployed to calm growing campus protests against the Israel-Hamas war.
The students’ plight has become a central part of protests, with students and a growing number of faculty demanding their amnesty. At issue is whether universities and law enforcement will clear the charges and withhold other consequences, or whether the suspensions and legal records will follow students into their adult lives.
Wow, talk about trying to scare people into not protesting. However, it could have the opposite effect. Take away from the protestors and they have less to lose. They may start to shine a light on injustices at home, too.
people who protested vietnam, sexism, occupy wall street, etc and weren’t rich or well connected enough had to live with whatever actions their universities and local law enforcement institutions did to them for the rest of their lives and without this country changing its course; so i suspect that only the people paying attention will take note and be branded a tankie if they take any action.
Weird. I protested on my campus in college and I wasn’t arrested or suspended.
It’s almost like there’s a constitutional right to do so?
Yes, but most didn’t have consequences and managed to effect change. Even if it wasn’t as much change as they wanted.
It looks like they are trying to use heavy handed tactics and fear, as well as self interest to quell the action. Its unlikely to work well as most are doing so selflessly.
In fact it may embolden others rather than scare them off, or increase from a peaceful protest to having masks for anonymity etc.
Yes, many suffered repercussions for Vietnam era protests bit they wear it with a badge of pride now and conscription is done politically. Mental health of personnel. Is also considered more, RHA is to protests and sympathy.
Do we not have the right to protest? I fail to understand on what grounds they’re being arrested.
Trespassing. You have the right to assembly, but that doesn’t extend to anywhere, any time.
These protestors could protest on the sidewalk, or get a permit and do a planned protest in a public park, or even work with the city to close roads for a planned march. As long as they kept it peaceful, police would have very little justification to arrest anyone.
Instead, they are doing it on college campuses, or public roads without permission. And when they are told to leave, they refuse. At that point, you are trespassing, and the police are justified in arresting you.
Civil disobedience grabs far more attention than protesting legally. We’re here talking about their cause because it made headlines due to civil disobedience. But activism has its costs.
Is it tresspassing, though? Not trying to argue with you, to be clear. They’re students paying tuition and housing fees. I guess I could see that arguement if they weren’t students. Though I agree, civil disobedience and disrupting the status quo is the only way to get people to take notice and do anything.
Unless it’s your place of residence, you are always trespassing if the owner (or employees acting on the owners behalf) tells you to leave.
Paying tuition doesn’t give you unfettered access to the school.
Freedom of assembly and speech apply to public schools since 55 years ago from the Tinker descion.
Afaik, universities are private. Specifically, Columbia University is definitely private.
And the ruling you’re talking about has a lot of restrictions which wouldn’t apply here anyway.
You can’t discriminate against cause. If you allow one protest to give speeches in the Quad, I suppose you would be required to give other causes equal access to the Quad.
These students created an encampment, which goes beyond past permitted protests at that university, afaik. I doubt university admin would allow that under any circumstances, even if they agree with the cause, because it sets a dangerous precedent.
But, again, this is a private university. These rules do not apply.
They’re students paying tuition and housing fees.
Are they? When I was in college, I don’t think I ever saw somebody from college demonstrate, it always was someone from the outside who relied on the fact that universities allowed it.
Do we not have the right to protest?
No. Be sure to vote for Democrats to keep the fascism
awayin power.When people were protesting unarmed black people getting murdered in 2020; Donald publicly told police to rough them up during arrests, sent out DHS in unmarked vans to snatch people off the streets, tear gassed a group of protesters so he could hold his little Bible upside down. There’s probably a bunch I am forgetting, it was a long fucking year.
That was the same year his dimwitted response to the pandemic caused tens or hundreds of thousands more deaths than otherwise.
He committed an insurrection. You want Repubs in power forever telling cops to beat the shit out of not only protestors, but voters? Go ahead with it.
When the Republicans are in power you are not allowed to criticize the Republicans.
When the Democrats are in power you are not allowed to criticize israel.
Genocide Joe should be rounded up in The Hague for violating international law to support Genocide
That’s correct, you do not. Like ALL “rights” in the USA, there is another law waiting in the shadows that completely contradicts it or makes it so that it’s not possible without it being illegal.
You can protest. But only with permits on public and private land, without trespassing, obeying all police orders even if those are themselves illegal, blah blah blah.
The sooner Americans realize all their freedoms do not exist in reality the sooner something can be done to fix it.
The first amendment has absolutely no references to permits. In fact it explicitly says you absolutely do not need anything, and that protests are legally protected free speech.
You may protest all you want on public or federal land. I know. I routinely tell cops to “fuck off,” because I know where I happen to be standing. I have yet to be arrested for a protest that I attended, and I have never even attempted to get a permit.
Privately owned property is the only place they can summarily arrest you, and that’s just a trespassing charge.
Yeah keep reading. You’re given one fake right and there are 100 other laws. Just because you’re the right shade, telling a cop to F off, is a crime in itself even if they’re completely wrong. Most people would be arrested just for that.
And that is the entire point. If “the law” is completely discretionary based on the encounter you have with the enforcers and the punishers (police, DA, judges, etc), then you have no rights. Step out of line and you’re in prison.
The US is a shithole.
