What if the masked people weren’t students?
After all, the masked people at Berkeley weren’t. It’s scary to think of though. But quite possible.
I remember there was a hullabaloo in the US when France made wearing face coverings in public illegal. Sure, some of it was against niqab wearing Muslim women. But it also was against the ‘antifa’ , violent groups linked to the radical left, as well as ‘Gud’ and ‘identitaires’ , violent groups linked to the radical right. Both groups wear similar clothes (specific brands) and like to ‘meet’and beat each other to death in parks. They also love to join peaceful protests, pull on their face masks once they’re amid the marching ranks, and beat up the police officers as well as any nearby protesters, ransacking and destroying everything in their path. With youth being online without borders, it wouldn’t surprise me if these groups’ MO exists in the US too.
Middlebury should add to its student handboik that wearing masks or anything concealing the face will be considered cause for investigation by campus police.
It doesn’t change the fact that those booing should be punished one way and those who disrupted the talk to the point of evacuation should be punished too.
At the same time, it’s impossible to punish random people.
What happened at Middlebury is a shame.
Since there were 67 people cited by the college, this was not a free-for-all but a planned protest organized by students and/or employees of the university and the action that put the professor was a clearly premeditated assault.
I am not following you here — so you are saying that you surmise they totally circumvented the protocols set forth in the student handbook? That would not have been a “planned protest.” A “planned protest” would have involved the protocols and coordination with Public Safety. Or are you contending that the “hosts” purposefully ignored the procedures in the handbook and organized the protest outside of those guidelines?
I’m sure that the protest organizers will claim innocence on any violation of the guidelines, with a “wink, wink, nudge, nudge” to the Black Bloc violent protesters. Hell, we even had a poster here noting their affection for the return of the Black Bloc.
Also mention of Murray’s 2007 visit and Q&A that supposedly “hadn’t gone well”, and some other conflicts involving race and religion at Middlebury that may not have been directly related to Murray.
It may have, but he’d won the election before the knock-down happened. They expected 400,000 votes to be cast in the election, and 250k had already been made either through early voting, mail in voting, or absentee, before the incident, plus whatever was in the mail or received but not yet counted. It was just too late to stop the win.
As for Middlebury, I wonder what the consequences would have been if it was a dorm party gone wild, if fire alarms were pulled and an employee injured trying to break up a kegger. Would any of those students have been suspended, been required to pay for damages?
I expect everyone on this thread who are upset about Gianforte to be equally upset about the proclivity of another Senator to assault people he doesn’t like.
Back to Middlebury, the Politico piece does an admirable job of finding people other than the students to take responsibility for their actions. The article finds blame in Murrary, the administration, the professors, the local AEI chapter, the Green Mountain Anti-Fascist Action, and the ultimate bogie man, Trump, but the poor protesting students are innocent of their actions in shouting down those they disagree with.
Well, probably neither of us “knows” why they showed up. But I’ll wager that it wasn’t to embarrass the protesters. Care to offer support for an alternatve view? .
^ Remember what I said about the ‘antifa’ groups in Europe and how I’d be surprised if they didn’t exist in the US?
(The MO at Middlebury was very similar to things that have happened in Europe).
So, one student was the typical useful idiot and invited the devil to dinner - unsurprisingly nobody had planned for long spoons.
For most people, it’s not like inviting the KKK or the weathermen because they’re not well-known. The students probably knew they were radical but didn’t realize what they stand for and how they go about it - outwardly they’re youthful idealists. Just happens they think violence is a viable way to reach their goals but obviously they don’t go around saying that. You only find out when it’s too late. Their tactics also impact the people they 'infiltrate n (not the right verb
It’s very important to distinguish between the group and the students because that group thrives on being confused with 'regular’students.
(just to make sure there’s no confusion : I don’t think the Middlebury booers and hecklers are absolved of anything. But it’s important not to be hoodwinked by the antifa tactics.)
@HarvestMoon1 this is the link to your article. Interesting read about the climate on campus at that time, events leading up to the speech, mistakes made in how it was planned and announced.
As I recall, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a Georgia law prohibiting Ku Klux Klansmen from wearing masks at public marches. Middlebury could fashion a similar prohibition for campus protests. You lawyers chime in here.
