Leftists call cops to report conservative free speech event
Liberals often criticize law enforcement as a systematically oppressive institution, but don’t seem to have any qualms about turning to the police when conservatives speak their minds.
In late April, the Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) chapter at the University of Texas at San Antonio held a tabling event inspired by Steven Crowder’s “Change My Mind” videos. The topic was “Hate Speech is Free Speech,” a sensitive subject on a campus where a white supremacist banner was hung last fall and white supremacist flyers were posted this spring.
In response to the white supremacist activity, along with provocative flyers distributed by the David Horowitz Freedom Center that resulted in the group being banned from campus, the university has enacted a “Campus Climate” initiative that allows students to report incidents of bias to promote a “safe” student environment.
[RELATED: Public university bans Jewish group from campus over fliers]
The YAF chapter at UTSA responded to this Orwellian measure to suppress free speech by hosting its “Change My Mind” tabling event, generating almost instant controversy.
First, a university staff member immediately approached us about our white board, erroneously claiming that it violated the university’s exhibit policy, and that we had no right to conduct the event because UTSA is a “limited free speech” campus, though the administrator was unable to show us the policy that we allegedly violated.
Then, within the first 10 minutes of our event, an LGBT student group that was tabling nearby called university police in hopes that officers would forcefully terminate our exhibit, though after arriving at the scene, the officers confirmed over radio that YAF was by no means violating UTSA policy.
Mere moments later, the associate dean of students nonetheless requested that we change our language, claiming that it made certain students feel “unsafe.”
[RELATED: Students ‘deeply hurt’ by criticism of liberal intolerance]
The event lasted roughly three hours, during which protesters held signs in front of the table in an attempt to draw attention away from our event.
Two hours into the event, activists made another call to the university police, but to their dismay, the officers again concluded that there had been no violation of university policy.
Our experience with campus activists is yet another illustration of how institutional leftism perpetuated by higher education is designed to shame, scorn, and silence both conservative viewpoints and our nation’s founding principles. Instead of engaging in an open dialogue, protesters would rather trot out tired memes on posters and call us white supremacist apologists from afar.
This, of course, is another incident in a long list of pernicious attempts from leftists on campus to silence conservative thought. Indoctrinated students across the country continue to harass conservatives and their organizations, as well as attempt to shut down conservative speakers.
[RELATED: VIDEO: Antifa, students shut down College Republicans event]
It is a sad, disturbing sight to watch as this radical leftist ideology consumes students on college campuses. Leftists on college campuses are incapable of forming a cohesive argument that goes beyond whatever talking point their gender studies professor had to say that morning, and have time and again shown a complete lack of any sort of cognitive dissonance.
Before our very eyes, our generation is pushing to actively strip us of our rights. They tell us they don’t want to suppress free speech, while in the same sentence claim that “hate speech” should be abolished. They will wrongfully label anything remotely conservative as “alt-right,” and will use demoralizing ad hominem attacks to justify their self-appointed moral high ground.
Conservative students must continue to fight back against this school-sanctioned execution of our First Amendment rights. Our system of higher education is failing us. It is actively building a generation that idolizes the postmodernist ideology that has resulted in the deaths of millions in the name of diversity, inclusion, and equality. It is nothing more than tyranny with a happy face.
Disclaimer: The author of this op-ed is a member of the UTSA YAF chapter, and was involved in organizing the “Change My Mind” event.
Follow this author on Twitter: @PeytonDillberg
