UT Pro-Palestine Protest Thread

[Rex Kramer 1343]

1 minute ago, Rex Kramer said:

I don’t really know what happened. Neither do you. I know that if a group I supported were arrested and ultimately released without charge because of police being heavy handed or because of campus administration / police being scared of a PR disaster, I’d get over it very quickly. 

I believe more alumni are more perturbed with the messages the naive protestors were sending than anything Abbott or Hartzell or police did.  I don’t think the comparison is close. 

Wow Brisket, how does this post bother you?  This was about as genuine a post as I can muster. 

[Brisketexan 105178]

1 minute ago, Rex Kramer said:

I don’t really know what happened. Neither do you. I know that if a group I supported were arrested and ultimately released without charge because of police being heavy handed or because of campus administration / police being scared of a PR disaster, I’d get over it very quickly. 

I believe more alumni are more perturbed with the messages the naive protestors were sending than anything Abbott or Hartzell or police did.  I don’t think the comparison is close. 

WTF?

Even in my younger, more conservative days, when I walked by any number of hippies, activists, and dipshits with their pet issues ("marijuana is great!  We should legalize it because you can make rope with it, not because you can smoke it!"  Well then, why are you constantly baked, Moonbeam?  Just be honest with us.  And of course, "The Shanty."  And all that shit)....not only did it not occur to me that I should be pissed at them and want them beaten, seeing the cops beat them would have made me ripshit pissed.

Because I guess I'm one of those rare folks who 1) says he believes in the Constitution, and 2) ACTUALLY believes in the Constitution.

Fascinating to me how all the "freedom and liberty" types are....totally fucking opposed to some of our most foundational freedoms and liberties.

[BurdineBandit 815]

18 minutes ago, Asithappens said:

Pro-Palestinian? 

You mean support for the group that cheered in the streets after the 9/11 attack? 

Support for the group that was chanting death to America (iirc up in Michigan)? 

I can see not liking what Israel has done (I don't), but don't kid yourselves. Palestinians would kill lbgtq's (and jews) in a heartbeat if they had their way. Talk about stupid fucking progressive kids. This knee-jerk response to support the underdog needs to be examined. 

But the handling of the campus protests was heavy-handed. 

Idk man, being a Texas Ex originally hailing from Houston I've known and met a few in my life, and they're pretty normal people. High school group had one in it, she was pretty with incredible eyebrows, her younger brother was a pretty chill normal Houston kid living the Houston culture (chopped n screwed) and fitting in until going off to college himself. The ones I've met on campus (where I now work) are pretty normal kids trying to figure out if they can survive their Chemistry sequences while they plan their route to med schools, or studying to become counselors/therapists like the rest of their peers (that I work with). 

Idk wtf you're on about, but I've never heard any of them threaten to kill "lgbtq's (and jews)" in my vicinity. They're just like, living, man. I imagine many of them that are lucky enough to make it out of that warzone and come here, they'd likely be just the same. Have you actually ever talked to any? 

[Brisketexan 105178]

2 minutes ago, Frank Drebin said:

But the issue Hartzell took was with time, place and manner.

When both state law and UT policy set "time place and manner" restrictions that functionally make all public areas of the university open for protest, then there really weren't any such restrictions in play here.  Greg Abbott cheered like hell when he signed a law in 2019 having that EXACT effect.  But now, he is telling us he didn't mean it.  Because....

4 minutes ago, Frank Drebin said:

Which can be enforceable if content neutral.  

....these actions were not content neutral.  How do we know that?  The governor who issued the orders to the DPS said, in a published statement, that it was based on the CONTENT of the protesters' positions.

This was a shitshow clusterfuck fascism jerkoff session, from start to finish.

[wildcat09 29359]

Is this the first time that Frank Drebin has acknowledged that he's Johnny Sack? 

[HenryJames 66135]

2 minutes ago, wildcat09 said:

Is this the first time that Frank Drebin has acknowledged that he's Johnny Sack? 

[Foosters 17858]

12 minutes ago, Rex Kramer said:

I don’t really know what happened. Neither do you. I know that if a group I supported were arrested and ultimately released without charge because of police being heavy handed or because of campus administration / police being scared of a PR disaster, I’d get over it very quickly. 

I believe more alumni are more perturbed with the messages the naive protestors were sending than anything Abbott or Hartzell or police did.  I don’t think the comparison is close. 

Curious why you think that the alumni at UT are so out of step with the majority of Americans. Especially when you consider that the majority of UT Alumni are white with college degrees?

A majority of Americans disapprove of Israel’s military actions in Gaza, in a pronounced shift from November, according to a new poll released by Gallup on Wednesday.

In a survey conducted from March 1-20, 55 percent of U.S. adults said they disapproved of Israel’s military actions — a jump of 10 percentage points from four months earlier, Gallup found.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/27/world/middleeast/military-action-americans-gaza.html

[Beau Vine 54319]

16 minutes ago, Rex Kramer said:

I don’t really know what happened. Neither do you. I know that if a group I supported were arrested and ultimately released without charge because of police being heavy handed or because of campus administration / police being scared of a PR disaster, I’d get over it very quickly. 

I believe more alumni are more perturbed with the messages the naive protestors were sending than anything Abbott or Hartzell or police did.  I don’t think the comparison is close. 

Everyone wants to know what your five wealthy friends who are scared of Cloak Room think?

[royiv 9332]

1 hour ago, Hank Kingsley said:

Meanwhile in Atlanta...

 

Uh oh, Atlanta cop wearing a mask covering his entire face. I’m sure @Frank Drebin will be by shortly to condemn the actions of Atlanta PD.

[Rex Kramer 1343]

15 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

WTF?

Even in my younger, more conservative days, when I walked by any number of hippies, activists, and dipshits with their pet issues ("marijuana is great!  We should legalize it because you can make rope with it, not because you can smoke it!"  Well then, why are you constantly baked, Moonbeam?  Just be honest with us.  And of course, "The Shanty."  And all that shit)....not only did it not occur to me that I should be pissed at them and want them beaten, seeing the cops beat them would have made me ripshit pissed.

Because I guess I'm one of those rare folks who 1) says he believes in the Constitution, and 2) ACTUALLY believes in the Constitution.

Fascinating to me how all the "freedom and liberty" types are....totally fucking opposed to some of our most foundational freedoms and liberties.

a) I don’t know what the group was told, what the authorities knew, etc.  I still don’t think they were treated appropriately. 18 hours later, they were released. This simply is not that big a deal. Worthy of discussion, sure. 

5 minutes ago, Foosters said:

Curious why you think that the alumni at UT are so out of step with the majority of Americans. Especially when you consider that the majority of UT Alumni are white with college degrees?

A majority of Americans disapprove of Israel’s military actions in Gaza, in a pronounced shift from November, according to a new poll released by Gallup on Wednesday.

In a survey conducted from March 1-20, 55 percent of U.S. adults said they disapproved of Israel’s military actions — a jump of 10 percentage points from four months earlier, Gallup found.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/27/world/middleeast/military-action-americans-gaza.html

Being critical of Israel is not at all the same thing as supporting Palestine. You know this. 

2 minutes ago, Beau Vine said:

Everyone wants to know what your five wealthy friends who are scared of Cloak Room think?

5?  Lol. 

[Blotto 23560]

9 minutes ago, Foosters said:

Curious why you think that the alumni at UT are so out of step with the majority of Americans. Especially when you consider that the majority of UT Alumni are white with college degrees?

For the same reasons that his ilk are convinced the election was stolen. They are stupid fucking rubes. 

[Rex Kramer 1343]

5 minutes ago, Blotto said:

For the same reasons that his ilk are convinced the election was stolen. They are stupid fucking rubes. 

Whoa!  Holy CR Invasion. I don’t think the election was stolen in the slightest. What a tremendous presumption and childish post. 

[royiv 9332]

For the fiscal conservatives and tough on crime crowd, how do you feel about the waste of money and resources on a performative demonstration by law enforcement? Do you think the money and resources could have been to better use in policing the greater Austin community?

[Dahobbs 17627]

18 minutes ago, Rex Kramer said:

a) I don’t know what the group was told, what the authorities knew, etc.  I still don’t think they were treated appropriately. 18 hours later, they were released. This simply is not that big a deal. Worthy of discussion, sure. 

You can't say, no harm, no foul after you've disrupted someone's right to free speech. That moment is lost forever. And, despite your minimizing of the difficulties the protesters suffered, the threat of future action is most certainly designed to have a chilling effect on their desire to participate in free speech later on. If there is any chance that actions like this will make anyone less likely to exercise their rights, then it absolutely is a big deal and must be dealt with and prevented from happening again. 

And all of the above sets aside any potential physical or mental injuries caused by the actions of the police and concerns of falsely imprisoning someone for any period of time. If we allow the state to trample rights with a "whoopsie", then we really don't have any rights at all. 

Edited April 25 by Dahobbs

[Beau Vine 54319]

 

[InkaUtexas 26017]

In DC. GW campus went on lockdown while I was there having lunch.

[BrickHorn 18255]

1 hour ago, wildcat09 said:

Again, y’all just need to search for posts with the word “speech” made by Johnny Sack . . . to realize he’s completely full of shit and simply trolling

Oh I’m quite capable of realizing Sack is full of shit without going to all that trouble.

[TexArcher 37989]

18 minutes ago, royiv said:

For the fiscal conservatives and tough on crime crowd, how do you feel about the waste of money and resources on a performative demonstration by law enforcement? Do you think the money and resources could have been to better use in policing the greater Austin community?

 

Are you asking Republicans to think critically and give an honest answer as to why two of their talking points are contradictory?

IIt's a reasonable request, but ou will stop sucking before you get a thoughtful response.

[Celery Man 20981]

you don't have to give a shit about the bill of rights but at least be honest about it

[MagicSoccerSpray 1732]

2 hours ago, Dahobbs said:

 Sounds like, the University was intentionally stamping down on free speech and violating constitutional rights. Sounds like Hartzell was full of shit and had already decided the outcome before the event took place. 

2 hours ago, BeardIP said:

Completely and pure speculation, but I could see the thinking and reasoning being an overreaction to the Harvard and Penn presidents who were fired--er, resigned-- due to their not stepping in and allowing things to get out of control. So maybe he's thinking about his job, which is kind of ironic, give that this overreaction the other direction is more likely to cost it than inaction (probably) was.

Maybe he was probably thinking, "crap, I don't want to get paraded in front of congress and embarrased and what a pain in the butt, and who knows what happens if this thing gets out of control and goes all anti-semitic like it did in the Ivies, ugh. better safe than sorry, and I AM in Texas, after all..."

Heavy is the head that wears the crown, I guess.

56 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Hartzell’s letter also appears to ascribe a meaning to the word occupy that is above and beyond the generally accepted meaning of being in the space. And using the term as sometimes to imply “without authority to do so.”  Then acting on the implied meaning prior to any actual rules being violated. 

“Nobody is allowed to occupy campus” is such a red herring.

 

Looks like they weren't going to allow an "occupation" like what's happening at Columbia, USC, Stanford, etc; and as was promised by the "UT Palestine solidarity committee":

https://thetexan.news/texas-local-news/ut-austin-palestine-solidarity-committee-plans-student-walk-out-occupation-of-campus/article_9b7c33b0-0257-11ef-9fcd-7724fc01bfbb.html

 

Quote

The University of Texas (UT) at Austin Palestine Solidarity Committee is planning a classroom walk-out on Wednesday, where students are invited to “occupy” the South Lawn of the campus.

“The footsteps of our comrades at Columbia SJP, Rutgers-New Brunswick, Yale, and countless others across the nation, we will be establishing THE POPULAR UNIVERSITY FOR GAZA and demanding our administration divest from death,” states the Instagram post.

 

All things considered, I think it went well, with no injuries, deaths, or horrible videos for folks to fixate on. There was no occupation, and subsequent tent city full of agitators and professional protesters threatening students and disrupting school, and the protesters got to be arrested/herded/chastised by "fascists", thereby stoking their ego, burnishing their brand, and establishing their cred. Win:Win

This is an interesting article dealing with the predicament Universities find themselves in:

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/04/campus-left-university-columbia-1968/678176/

[atomheartbevo 89757]

55 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

When both state law and UT policy set "time place and manner" restrictions that functionally make all public areas of the university open for protest, then there really weren't any such restrictions in play here.  Greg Abbott cheered like hell when he signed a law in 2019 having that EXACT effect.  But now, he is telling us he didn't mean it.  Because....

....these actions were not content neutral.  How do we know that?  The governor who issued the orders to the DPS said, in a published statement, that it was based on the CONTENT of the protesters' positions.

This was a shitshow clusterfuck fascism jerkoff session, from start to finish.

And as may have been mentioned, Abbott was on the Texas Supreme Court, was Texas Attorney General, and is now Governor.  Abbott’s background shows he knows full well what word games he is playing.  He’s not some average schmuck that somehow stumbled his way into the Governor’s mansion.

[atomheartbevo 89757]

32 minutes ago, royiv said:

For the fiscal conservatives and tough on crime crowd, how do you feel about the waste of money and resources on a performative demonstration by law enforcement? Do you think the money and resources could have been to better use in policing the greater Austin community?

The money and resources could have been used to help teach DPS how to respond to an active school shooter situation, or reinforce previous lessons.

25 minutes ago, Dahobbs said:

You can't say, no harm, no foul after you've disrupted someone's right to free speech. That moment is lost forever. And, despite your minimizing of the difficulties the protesters suffered, the threat of future action is most certainly designed to have a chilling effect on their desire to participate in free speech later on. If there is any chance that actions like this will make anyone less likely to exercise their rights, then it absolutely is a big deal and must be dealt with and prevented from happening again. 

The fact that the law enforcement left en masse at a certain point yesterday and people came back to the same areas and there was no problem showed that this was not the big bogeyman that they claimed.  If it was what the Powers That Be claimed it was, law enforcement should not have left, as clearly the protestors would have taken over the entire campus.  Yet, that didn’t happen and was never going to happen based on videos before shit went down yesterday.

[Bevo 13590]

3 minutes ago, MagicSoccerSpray said:

 

Looks like they weren't going to allow an "occupation" like what's happening at Columbia, USC, Stanford, etc; and as was promised by the "UT Palestine solidarity committee":

https://thetexan.news/texas-local-news/ut-austin-palestine-solidarity-committee-plans-student-walk-out-occupation-of-campus/article_9b7c33b0-0257-11ef-9fcd-7724fc01bfbb.html

 

 

All things considered, I think it went well, with no injuries, deaths, or horrible videos for folks to fixate on. There was no occupation, and subsequent tent city full of agitators and professional protesters threatening students and disrupting school, and the protesters got to be arrested/herded/chastised by "fascists", thereby stoking their ego, burnishing their brand, and establishing their cred. Win:Win

This is an interesting article dealing with the predicament Universities find themselves in:

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/04/campus-left-university-columbia-1968/678176/

It seems the smart move is to limit gathering sizes to below 40 and limit the space for gathering and times of gatherings and require prior approval by the school. Anything beyond the ordinary in scope needs to be done off campus. Let them be the city's problem.

[Nivek 16948]

2 hours ago, Skipper said:

LOL.  Newsflash.  90%+ of alumni and donors don't give a fuck about the West Mall and whatever flavor of the month protest is in the news even if this was mishandled.  Most of us saw it and rolled our eyes every time we walked past when we were on campus.  Hartzell and Eltife paved the way to the SEC and a competitive football team.  They have kept UT a respectable institution of higher learning for those that want to get educated and get a good job.  They are golden.   

 

"but ya fuck one goat"

[Rex Kramer 1343]

31 minutes ago, Dahobbs said:

You can't say, no harm, no foul after you've disrupted someone's right to free speech. That moment is lost forever. And, despite your minimizing of the difficulties the protesters suffered, the threat of future action is most certainly designed to have a chilling effect on their desire to participate in free speech later on. If there is any chance that actions like this will make anyone less likely to exercise their rights, then it absolutely is a big deal and must be dealt with and prevented from happening again. 

And all of the above sets aside any potential physical or mental injuries caused by the actions of the police and concerns of falsely imprisoning someone for any period of time. If we allow the state to trample rights with a "whoopsie", then we really don't have any rights at all. 

I understand what you’re saying. We still do not know what happened behind the scenes (though I’ll reiterate it appears police were unnecessarily heavy handed). And my perspective is certainly shaped by age. Despite that all you say above is true, life isn’t fair, and everyone arrested should be able to get over it. 

[Rex Kramer 1343]

6 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

The fact that the law enforcement left en masse at a certain point yesterday and people came back to the same areas and there was no problem showed that this was not the big bogeyman that they claimed

Maybe. Or maybe they just wanted to minimize the PR disaster that ensued.  Probably one of the 2 and I don’t know why we’d guess. 

[Nivek 16948]

1 hour ago, Brisketexan said:

WTF?

Even in my younger, more conservative days, when I walked by any number of hippies, activists, and dipshits with their pet issues ("marijuana is great!  We should legalize it because you can make rope with it, not because you can smoke it!"  Well then, why are you constantly baked, Moonbeam?  Just be honest with us.  And of course, "The Shanty."  And all that shit)....not only did it not occur to me that I should be pissed at them and want them beaten, seeing the cops beat them would have made me ripshit pissed.

Because I guess I'm one of those rare folks who 1) says he believes in the Constitution, and 2) ACTUALLY believes in the Constitution.

Fascinating to me how all the "freedom and liberty" types are....totally fucking opposed to some of our most foundational freedoms and liberties.

Now contrast that with those that go to church but then ignore the messages of love and humanity from Jesus and go straight to oppressing the shit out of anybody different than them.    

[MagicSoccerSpray 1732]

3 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

The fact that the law enforcement left en masse at a certain point yesterday and people came back to the same areas and there was no problem showed that this was not the big bogeyman that they claimed.  If it was what the Powers That Be claimed it was, law enforcement should not have left, as clearly the protestors would have taken over the entire campus.  Yet, that didn’t happen and was never going to happen based on videos before shit went down yesterday.

 

Assuming the "occupations" were wholly organic, and that the Texas one would actually be in good faith and peaceful, is naive. Now that it's been cleared out once, I think we'll hopefully see any subsequent gatherings to be less rowdy and confrontationally framed.

[52-80 19205]

It was completely inappropriate for an armed/militarized force to have marched on foot across campus arresting innocent people who were peacefully gathered. 

They could have arrived on paraglider instead. 

[bolverk 29695]

1 minute ago, MagicSoccerSpray said:

 

Assuming the "occupations" were wholly organic, and that the Texas one would actually be in good faith and peaceful, is naive. Now that it's been cleared out once, I think we'll hopefully see any subsequent gatherings to be less rowdy and confrontationally framed.

I've seen rowdier knitting circles than yesterday's protest.

[hayden_horn 11364]

Just now, bolverk said:

I've seen rowdier knitting circles than yesterday's protest.

they had yellow vested fucking wardens for christ sake

[Celery Man 20981]

Is “occupy” a trigger word that creates the safe space requirement

[bolverk 29695]

1 minute ago, hayden_horn said:

they had yellow vested fucking wardens for christ sake

It feels like a whole lot of posters who are commenting today didn't watch any of the videos that were posted yesterday. Or, if they did, they're intentionally gaslighting the board.

[PTINS 3472]

8 hours ago, Js1 said:

Weird that these protests don't get defended as much as the peaceful demonstration 3 years ago in DC

Maybe the students should have pushed past the barricades, broken some windows in the Tower, gotten into Hartzell's office and put their feet up on his desk, stolen some shit from the Tower and threatened to hang Sharon Wood

Bonus points if they beat some police officers with flag poles

This.

A "peaceful" protest, the end result of which was the US Capitol was taken over by a violent mob that assaulted uniformed police officers, and openly sought to apprehend elected government officials.

6 hours ago, Frank Drebin said:

The school has time, place and manner restrictions they intend to enforce.  If a group violates lawful time, place, and manner restrictions, they should be arrested/dispersed.  No matter who the group is.

President Hartzell has explained that he isn’t going to allow them to take over areas that aren’t for protests. Nor should he.

I read the letter from Texas.  It pretty clearly states the manner in which the protests were being conducted violated UT's free speech policies.  UT thus called in authorities.  

The protesters clearly stated (and published) their intent to occupy the campus.  

They were not going to let them take over the university.

These is a place for everything. Not every place is for everything.

6 hours ago, Dahobbs said:

 The protesters weren't violent. They weren't destructive. They weren't threatening. At least, I have not see any evidence of that. 

Isn't that what witnesses say before things went to shit?  It happens somewhere damn near every day.

6 hours ago, Incredulity said:

You know exactly what I am talking about.  For the last 6 months Jewish students have been routinely harassed and chased on several campuses across the country.  Its fucking wrong.

Kids in flip flops protesting? Who cares.

Masked people with backpacks protesting? hummm? What's up with that?

A large group, students and masked individuals, protesting "against" the most persecuted group of people in the history of the world? Prudent to err on the side of caution.

6 hours ago, 956 Worldwide said:

This stuff exploded across the nation.  There have absolutely been some vile anti-Semitic activities that went beyond the pale on college campuses. And it seems like that got conflated to what was planned at UT, which was just speech, and that probably exploited by bad-faith actors who deliberately wanted to confuse the matter and posture as hard asses. 

5 hours ago, Nivek said:

UT's pro-Palestinian protest was a MODEL protest.   Unlike some of the others happening elsewhere or other incidents where people were harmed, threatened, and harassed ...

You can say that, after the fact. No way you could guarantee that before it happened.

Charles Whitman was a MODEL citizen, until he "occupied" the UT Tower and killed and wounded almost 50 people. 

5 hours ago, Js1 said:

Of course Blacklab ... will ignore the obvious threadshitting 

Blacklab is moderating a message board. Give him a fucking break.

This is a volatile topic that is not borderline CR, it is very much right down the middle CR. Take the CR to the CR, and have at it. Most of the posts here are inflammatory rhetoric, not factual information.

Blacklab has deleted my posts that I knew were too heavy CR, and they should have been deleted. I posted them knowing that, I exercised my rights, and Blacklab did the same.

5 hours ago, YGIFS said:

You live long enough, you see everything turned on its head.  This is a horrible black eye on the University.  

I repectfully disagree.  

Allowing unlawful assemblies of large groups of people, students or otherwise, is putting people and property at risk.

Was the protest peaceful? Yes.

Was there a significant probability it might not be peaceful? Yes, given what has transpired across the country the past few months.

Does the UTPD have adequate resources to "control" the number of people that gathered? IDK, but I'm betting they don't. (One would thing the US Government could protect the Capitol, who knew?)

Could this unlawful protest have gone off the rails and become more unlawful to the detriment of all involved? Absolutely.

Allowing an unlawful assembly with the potential to take over the university, shut it down, and reduce it to an online educational platform is unacceptable. That is one step removed from just shutting down the university.

People protest, get arrested, get released. Some cheer, and others complain. No biggie.

The only difference is people bring guns and bombs with them now.

Edited April 25 by PTINS
typo. text.

[immamac 42877]

I think it’s obvious what happened here and a clear overreaction on all fronts.

Pro Palestine demonstrations have been a thing in Austin for a while now since the conflict started.
 

The UT student body overreacted and jumped on a hype cycle because of the Columbia/USC/<insert other academic institution here> thing, many of which turned campuses into shitholes and are actually a problem. this isn’t up for debate. Tent camps and shanty towns aren’t safe for anyone and shouldn’t be allowed on campus under the guise of protest. 

the UT leadership should have worked with the protest group to help them amplify their voices the best with help from the university and law enforcement to make sure things went well and according to plan. Instead they overreacted to the hype cycle and assumed that tent camps were going to happen, because it was more likely than it was 2 weeks ago for that to the the case. 

the cops overreacted by being literal shitbags and not just letting the protest happen all day and keeping people from setting up camp or long term occupation. Arresting people is absolutely insane. 

Hartzel fucked up and is in the middle of a political shitstorm. He underreacted and was too slow to act. He should have gone to the organizer in person on campus and talked to them in front of everyone to say what was and wasn’t gonna happen and if they didn’t listen he was going to have to call authorities. Instead he sat in his ivory tower and fucked the entire thing. His campus was militarized and there was more violence caused by the police than the students. His statement after was completely inappropriate and clearly not in the best interest for the student, faculty or institutional population. 

[52-80 19205]

9 hours ago, SubliminalHorn said:

Oh no! Not intimidation chants! 

The type of people who yesterday characterized anodyne speech they didnt like as “racist coded dogwhistles” are today dismissing speech they like as mere “intimidation chants”. 

[HenryJames 66135]

3 minutes ago, PTINS said:

Masked people with backpacks protesting? hummm? What's up with that?

People with backpacks on a college campus? Seems suspicious.

[Captainant 27689]

35 minutes ago, MagicSoccerSpray said:

All things considered, I think it went well, with no injuries, deaths, or horrible videos for folks to fixate on. There was no occupation, and subsequent tent city full of agitators and professional protesters threatening students and disrupting school, and the protesters got to be arrested/herded/chastised by "fascists", thereby stoking their ego, burnishing their brand, and establishing their cred. Win:Win

 

Dude, there were organizers wearing yellow high-viz vests that were working with the cops before they went aggroid and started teakettling and arresting students and journalists.

There was not an """occupation""" going on or imminent, no matter how much you or abbott repeat it. 

 

You and sack and incredulity and everyone else taking the governor at his word need to actually watch some of the reporting and footage from the event.

 

It is not as you are so desperately describing. 

[burntorangebongos 10750]

6 hours ago, Incredulity said:

staggering lack of self awareness is staggering.

 

Protests are fine.

Intimidation of groups of people is dead fucking wrong.  fuck you and anyone who allows situations like Cooper Union, the literal harassing intimidation of others.

 

And NO there is not evidence I have seen that harassing intimidation happened at UT yesterday.

You have the gay so you should know that it is wrong to intimidate groups, @SubliminalHorn, you bastid for not being sensitive to the unharrassed Jewish students that danced happily and wore the Israeli flag with no one fucking with them. Jerk!

Edited April 25 by burntorangebongos

[Hank Kingsley 20991]

Would love more information on how they established intent. 

[Captain Ron 12887]

2 hours ago, Skipper said:

LOL.  Newsflash.  90%+ of alumni and donors don't give a fuck about the West Mall and whatever flavor of the month protest is in the news even if this was mishandled.  Most of us saw it and rolled our eyes every time we walked past when we were on campus.  Hartzell and Eltife paved the way to the SEC and a competitive football team.  They have kept UT a respectable institution of higher learning for those that want to get educated and get a good job.  They are golden.   

 

 

This is 100% garbage. I might not care much about the protests themselves. But I see IN BOSTON news images of DPS busting up students that by all accounts were protesting peacefully. You better damn well believe that gets a lot more attention from everyone.

The fact that the Hartzell and others at Texas signed off on this is garbage and an embarassment to Texas.

[Captainant 27689]

Just now, Hank Kingsley said:

Would love more information on how they established intent. 

[bolverk 29695]

3 minutes ago, Hank Kingsley said:

Would love more information on how they established intent. 

News cameramen are a blight and should be barred from campus.

[jimmyjazz 46000]

34 minutes ago, Rex Kramer said:

I understand what you’re saying. We still do not know what happened behind the scenes (though I’ll reiterate it appears police were unnecessarily heavy handed). And my perspective is certainly shaped by age. Despite that all you say above is true, life isn’t fair, and everyone arrested should be able to get over it. 

Oh, fuck off.  I'm older than you and I think Abbott, Hartzell, Eltife and the gang are wannabe authoritarians that boot-lickers like you jizz over every night.

[SimonBolivar 10958]

7 hours ago, Frank Drebin said:

Do UT's time, place, and manner restrictions violate the constitution?  I honestly do not know. 

What was even the point of going to law school if you're not going to pretend you know everything there is to know about ConLaw on a messageboard? Seems like a waste of money to me.

[wildcat09 29359]

Tents are dangerous now?

[MagicSoccerSpray 1732]

29 minutes ago, Captainant said:

Dude, there were organizers wearing yellow high-viz vests that were working with the cops before they went aggroid and started teakettling and arresting students and journalists.

There was not an """occupation""" going on or imminent, no matter how much you or abbott repeat it. 

 

You and sack and incredulity and everyone else taking the governor at his word need to actually watch some of the reporting and footage from the event.

 

It is not as you are so desperately describing. 

27 minutes ago, Hank Kingsley said:

Would love more information on how they established intent. 

 

They took them at their word, and because of their previous actions at Columbia, USC, etc. Here is the instagram post announcing the "occupation":

"Reclaim our space"

"Class is canceled"

"Occupy the lawn"

"In the footsteps of our comrades at Columbia SJP, Rutgers-New Brunswick, Yale, and countless others across the nation, we will be establishing THE POPULAR UNIVERSITY FOR GAZA and demanding our administration divest from death."

Watching what the "solidarity committees" did at Columbia and Yale, perhaps it was prudent to take them at their word. The fact that 26 of the arrestees weren't student, and were outside agitators, should be a clue.

Edited April 25 by MagicSoccerSpray

[Brisketexan 105178]

45 minutes ago, Nivek said:

Now contrast that with those that go to church but then ignore the messages of love and humanity from Jesus and go straight to oppressing the shit out of anybody different than them.    

Insert "they're the same picture" meme here.

31 minutes ago, PTINS said:

This.

A "peaceful" protest, the end result of which was the US Capitol was taken over by a violent mob that assaulted uniformed police officers, and openly sought to apprehend elected government officials.

These is a place for everything. Not every place is for everything.

Isn't that what witnesses say before things went to shit?  It happens somewhere damn near every day.

Kids in flip flops protesting? Who cares.

Masked people with backpacks protesting? hummm? What's up with that?

A large group, students and masked individuals, protesting "against" the most persecuted group of people in the history of the world? Prudent to err on the side of caution.

You can say that, after the fact. No way you could guarantee that before it happened.

Charles Whitman was a MODEL citizen, until he "occupied" the UT Tower and killed and wounded almost 50 people. 

Blacklab is moderating a message board. Give him a fucking break.

This is a volatile topic that is not borderline CR, it is very much right down the middle CR. Take the CR to the CR, and have at it. Most of the posts here are inflammatory rhetoric, not factual information.

Blacklab has deleted my posts that I knew were too heavy CR, and they should have been deleted. I posted them knowing that, I exercised my rights, and Blacklab did the same.

I repectfully disagree.  

Allowing unlawful assemblies of large groups of people, students or otherwise, is putting people and property at risk.

Was the protest peaceful? Yes.

Was there a significant probability it might not be peaceful? Yes, given what has transpired across the country the past few months.

Does the UTPD have adequate resources to "control" the number of people that gathered? IDK, but I'm betting they don't. (One would thing the US Government could protect the Capitol, who knew?)

Could this unlawful protest have gone off the rails and become more unlawful to the detriment of all involved? Absolutely.

Allowing an unlawful assembly with the potential to take over the university, shut it down, and reduce it to an online educational platform is unacceptable. That is one step removed from just shutting down the university.

People protest, get arrested, get released. Some cheer, and others complain. No biggie.

The only difference is people bring guns and bombs with them now.

You literally just posted a screed advocating for prior restraint of speech based on what MIGHT happen.  I mean, even Walter fucking Sobchak knows that's bullshit.

 

By your argument, we should not allow ANY Trump rallies because the one he held on January 6th turned violent, and he still uses violent rhetoric sometimes.  So, when he shows up around here, we're not gonna allow that lawless shitshow on OUR watch, nosiree!  We'll send an entire division of armored and armed DPS shock troops to break those likely hooligans up!  Right?

Fucking of course not.

The rights of free speech and freedom of assembly are the most misunderstood constitutional rights.

 

[Nivek 16948]

24 minutes ago, PTINS said:

 

Charles Whitman was a MODEL citizen, until he "occupied" the UT Tower and killed and wounded almost 50 people. 

 

My wife came home yesterday to a man in the kitchen with a large knife and her kids nearby.   I guess she should have shot me for making dinner.    Moron.

[Nivek 16948]

32 minutes ago, HenryJames said:

People with backpacks on a college campus? Seems suspicious.