UNC Leftists Silence Speaker, Threaten Student Sponsors

The Durham Herald-Sun reports today - - -

UNC Chapel Hill police used pepper spray and threatening gestures with Tasers to chase a hostile and raucous crowd out of Bingham Hall Tuesday night in an effort to allow former Republican presidential candidate Tom Tancredo to speak about illegal immigration.

But minutes later, amid obscenity-laced catcalls from the unruly audience and protesters banging so violently against windows from outside the meeting room that one shattered, spraying seated students with bits of broken glass, Tancredo announced, "That's it," and left the room with a police escort, just a few short minutes after he began his remarks.

Police then cleared the building as a f ire alarm, pulled apparently by a protester, buzzed incessantly and the angry students assembled outside to chant and hurl insults at police for abusive methods.

The most serious unrest occurred after two young women walked to either side of Tancredo and unfurled a large banner proclaiming "No dialogue with hate" that concealed the speaker from the audience.

Authorities asked them to leave. When they refused, they were physically led into the hallway, prompting heated reaction from a throng of protesters there that resulted in the pepper spray. Inside, a woman heckler who said she was a faculty member, screamed, "There's no need for Tasers here." Police Lt. Lawrence Twiddy said no arrests were made.

"It's a fascinating thing. Colleges are supposed to be the marketplace of ideas," Tancredo said two hours after he called off his speech. "I wonder why institutions of higher education continue to produce people who can't think critically."

Tancredo said he could think of no more appropriate term for the protesters than "student fascists," drawing a comparison to Hitler Youth. "You look at what happened in Nazi Germany in the 1930s, how people were shouted down and not allowed to speak."

Riley Matheson, founder of the UNC chapter of Youth for Western Civilization, which sponsored Tancredo's visit, also was shouted down as a racist in bursts of profanity by the audience while trying to introduce Tancredo.

"It's a shame that we can't have a civil dialogue on this campus without having hate groups, fascists, coming in and trying to shut us down. At this point, [UNC Chancellor Holden] Thorp needs to do something about this. The chancellor needs to take control," Matheson said.

"If we had conservative students doing this kind of thing -- of course, conservatives don't do this kind of thing -- we would be severely disciplined by the university, and we expect the same to happen with these liberals." . . .

The protesters -- many of whom were with Students for a Democratic Society, which announced beforehand its intent to disrupt Tancredo's speech -- defended their tactics.

"I think that it's a very direct and pointed way to get your point across," said Collin Warren-Hicks, a sophomore English major from Mebane, as a nearby protester shouted into a bullhorn, "Death to Western civilization," and a chant went up "Yes, racists, we will fight, we know where you sleep at night." . . .
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The Raleigh News & Observer's story of the UNC Leftists mob-like actions which silenced Tancredo and threatened students sponsoring the event includes the following - - -

"We're very sorry that former Congressman Tancredo wasn't able to speak," Chancellor Holden Thorp said in a prepared statement. "We pride ourselves on being a place where all points of view can be expressed and heard, so I'm disappointed that didn't happen tonight. I think our Public Safety officers appropriately handled a difficult situation." . . .

The entire H-S story’s here; the N&O’s story’s here.

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My comments:

The actions of the Leftists last night at UNC-Chapel Hill are outrageous but not surprising.

Campus Leftists across America now routinely resort to fascist tactics to silence and in other ways assault those with whom they disagree.

Decent people who value democracy need to speak up and develop ways to counter the Leftists.

In terms of last night’s events, in addition to the silencing of Congressman Tancredo, the four matters that most concern me are:

1) - - - The threats (“we know where you sleep”) the Leftists directed at UNC students sponsoring Tancredo.

2) - - - The deliberateness with which the protestors created a situation they knew could easily have escalated into something far worse than happened last night.

3) - - - Any consequences dealt to the protestors (assuming there are any) will likely be very minimal.

I'm traveling today, but plan to email Chancellor Thorp tonight.

I hope many of you will let Thorp know what happened last night is a stain on UNC and a challenge to the administration and faculty.

Chancellor Holden Thorp's

Email - chancellor@unc.edu

Phone - 919 962 1365

Hat tip: abb