Perry's a free man -pardoned by a TX gov. who all but declared open season on pol protesters *views aren't favored by his extreme authoritarian state. Pardon's message: supposedly #1A-protected protests for causes like Black civil rights or agst the slaughter of civilians in Gaza can, & probably will, expose you to arrest or state violence, risk your: schooling/job o r-in danger of deadly vigilante justice.
A reprehensible, corrupt pardon,& antithetical to the #1A right to protest: “Gov Abbott’s pardon & its accomplishing rhetoric fits into pattern of sanctioned violence or threatened violence against undesirables. In those case an Air Force vet protesting police brutality-there’s not even a mention of Foster, the victim. The message from Abbott & ppl like him is ominous. Daniel Perry wasn’t the first. Do you really think he’ll be a the last?” #BLM#GOPFascism#GOPRacismhttps://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/05/abbott-daniel-perry-pardon-protesters-texas/
Poll-driven “balance” reps. a dubious safe harbor when the central issue is preserving or abandoning free & fair elections, sovereignty & the #ruleofaw. #J6 wrote Trump’s intentions in blood. He promises more depredations & his authoritarian platform calls for turning the fed bureaucracy into his personal instrument. He vows to make the DOJ a weapon of “retribution” against his enemies, & raises the specter of violence “if we don’t win.” https://zeteo.com/p/as-a-veteran-reporter-ive-always
Romney isn’t the only top DC pol to suggest: TikTok's to blame for young ppl’s views on the ME. 1/3 of Americans <30 -solely support: PA cause, 14% only back IL -contrast w their elders. Rep Lawler, a sponsor of the TikTok measure, claimed -app's linked to the rapid spread of pro-PA protests on college campuses.
"Condescension, dismissal, & misrep. from elite journalists -proves the students’ pt: should be wary of the MSM's intentions *consistently misrep.: mvt’s goals. These journalists are holding student activists to a standard *don’t hold other orgs to.
Refusing to grant students the courtesy of talking to their chosen reps *disrespect. Journalists whose job is reliant upon 1A protections should understand -protects the right to not speak."
The EXEC DIR of the NYT believes ensuring: 'democracy doesn't die in darkness' isn't a priority. To WaPo's credit, it unveiled that slogan in 2017 -intended to reach younger readers, before adding it to its website. If TFG wins, the press loses their freedom, but he's good for bus:
Rs: #1A is only for them (& most everything else):
State legs, many dominated by Rs: introduced >250 anti-protest bills since the Ferguson Uprising often supported by the many of the same forces united agst student protesters today: LE, R LEAD, pro-IL lobbyists & RW operatives.
The House passed the bill by a 320-91 vote. It adopts a def. of antisemitism that could be used to penalize criticism of Zionism, which many Jews oppose, & the actions of IL.
The ACLU notes that the bill directs the DOE to consider “an overbroad definition of antisemitism that encompasses protected political speech when investigating allegations of discrimination under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act-."
"All of this trouble really started in Congress -most of what's being labeled as antisemitism is criticism of IL for its conduct in Gaza, & criticism of the US. for supplying IL with heavy weapons & for blocking UN resolutions demanding a cease-fire. The MOC responsible should be reviled by their colleagues; & college faculties should demand: ldrs of their insts. should uphold the principles of freedom of speech that're intrinsic to a great u-." #1A#StudentSpringhttps://newrepublic.com/article/181213/outside-agitators-campus-protests-members-congress
"The thing that so many ppl are resistant to deal with: protests aren’t just about Gaza anymore but also #stateviolence & what confrontations over power will look like as our crisis worsens. & how that & Gaza & all our other major issues are tied together."
-JY Sexton
--A prof filming police was beaten, slammed, dragged—suffering broken ribs & broken hand
–A prof who confronted police pinning a student to the ground was herself thrown down -arrested-:
"Virtually every major wave of campus protests in the past sixty or so years has been met with condemnation by established elites. And virtually all--civil rights, anti-war, anti-apartheid--over the decades have proven the protestors to be on the right side of history."
-David Rothkopf
#Musk appears to support the far-right & #antisemitism so much that he reinstated Fuentes:
Nick Fuentes, leader of the anti-semitic "groyper" mvt, will be reinstated to X -Musk announced Thurs.
“Very well, he will be reinstated, provided he doesn't violate the law, & let him be crushed by the comments & Community Notes,” Musk said. “It's better to have anti whatever out in the open to be rebutted than grow simmering in the darkness.”
Rs are always defending THEIR #1A rights, but that privilege is reserved for THEM.
#MAGAMike is zeroing in on the wave of pro-PA protests that've rocked college campuses *looks to unify his fractured HSE R conf. -bitterly splintered for months by exposing divisions within the HSE Dem caucus.
"In practice, adults from all walks -Republicans, Dems, media & univ. admins: exhibiting traits of hysteria & dogmatism they deplore in the young -should come as no surprise -the protests are getting angrier.
Students have every right to protest even with speech that many of their peers find abhorrent. One person's outrage over the killing of 1000s of civilians in Gaza might be another's call for -elimination of Jews from IL."
Dozens of protesters took over a building at Columbia University in New York early Tuesday, barricading the entrances and unfurling a Palestinian flag out of a window in the latest escalation of demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war that have spread to college campuses nationwide.
...number of faculty demanding amnesty for protesters.
👉At issue is whether the suspensions and legal records will follow students through their adult lives..."👈
Students of law should be very careful in particular. Breaking the law to exercise a right (#1A) cannot be an adequate path for a future lawyer or judge in my view, regardless of the justification of the grievance.
...recently begun to think that given the slaver and colonial origins of the police force in the US, it might become necessary to rebuild everything from the ground up. How? I wouldn't know.
Looking at the causes auf #BLM and the current police brutalities against students exercising their #1A on public grounds (sometimes private--different story,) the system might be beyond repair indeed.
Most of the student protesters on Columbia’s campus were peaceful. For the NYPD Chief of Patrol to generalize, lie, & mischaracterize their actions & speech in the protest, in response to a Member of Congress, is beyond the pale.
Even "The Hill" acknowledges that Gov Abbott was out of line when he falsely disparaged UT students:
"After Texas state troopers arrested more than 50 people at a UT at Austin protest this week, Gov Abbott is facing accusations that the state went too far.
Police in riot gear broke up an unsanctioned but nonviolent demonstration at the state’s flagship university Wed."
"In a 3–2 vote, the FCC voted to restore Net Neutrality protections & reclassify high-speed-internet access services as telecom services subject to Title II of the Communications Act.
The decision is a major victory for the public interest: Title II authority empowers the FCC to hold companies: AT&T, Comcast, Spectrum... accountable for a wide range of harms to internet users across the US, fast, open +fair for all of us.”
Pres Biden must defend the PEACEFUL student protesters & rebuke Netanyahu.
"What's happening in America's college campuses is horrific," accusing "antisemitic mobs" of taking over leading universities.
"It's unconscionable. It has to be stopped. It has to be condemned & condemned unequivocally -response of several university presidents was shameful. Now, fortunately, state, local, fed officials, many of them have responded differently-."
Truthtellers need to be amplified, not media outlets that make false accusations.
"A Columbia faculty committee has condemned external media outlets for their “reckless conflation” of students’ protected free speech with the “abusive acts” of nonaffiliates."
-D Froomkin
However, as discussed in the thread* below, I disagree with the implied assessment.
Students that are lawfully using their #1a but doing so in a political way ON the (private premises) of campuses are severly disrupting the learning environment for all students. That is not exceptable:
About 50 #Texas DPS State Troopers were sent out in response to a peaceful attempt to march and occupy a Plaza at UT #Austin today. Reportedly three arrests according to those on scene.
...have the right to protest, that protest should be limited to public grounds. Any property owner has the right to clear his grounds of people not behaving in a constructive way.
OFC #1A, but not everywhere, neither online (->#X/#Twitter), nor in RL. According to many news reports, the students will not clear the grounds voluntarily, so the police are necessary to remove them from the premises.