Northwestern announces action against Jeff Sessions speech disruptors
The citations were announced by Northwestern University Sunday after a month-long investigation.
A "small number of individuals" have been cited with civil citations after disrupting a speech by former Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
A “small number of individuals” have been issued citations for their behavior during a recent Jeff Sessions protest at Northwestern University.
According to a university statement, following an investigation by the Northwestern University Police Department, a “small number of individuals” were each given $125 citations by the department for interfering with certain duties of a police officer.
The statement says that the citations were issued because some individuals were “pushing, grabbing or kicking police officers as they attempted to perform their duties and secure the building.” However, the citations are civil and “do not create a criminal record,” according to the university, which notes that an “overwhelming majority” of the protesters were peaceful and followed university policies.
On Nov. 5, Jeff Sessions spoke to the College Republicans chapter at Northwestern, which was sponsored by Young America’s Foundation, as reported by Campus Reform. Protesters disrupted the speech within five minutes, according to the College Republicans Secretary Max Tokman, who also said the protesters “were saying things like ‘Abolish ICE’, ‘F*** Jeff Sessions.”
[RELATED: EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Protesters disrupt Jeff Sessions at Northwestern...but former AG’s not having it]
Bobby McNeily previously told Campus Reform that he head “screaming, pounding, and whaling” while the event was going on.
According to The Daily Northwestern, students tried to climb through open windows as well as push through the building doors.
According to the report, protesters booed attendees as they walked out of the event.
However, The Daily had to apologize for their coverage of the protest in an editorial, stating that they were “contribut[ing] to the harm students experienced.”
[RELATED: Northwestern U campus newspaper apologizes after covering ‘traumatic’ Jeff Sessions speech]
”While our goal is to document history and spread information, nothing is more important than ensuring that our fellow students feel safe — and in situations like this, that they are benefitting [sic] from our coverage rather than being actively harmed by it. We failed to do that last week, and we could not be more sorry,” the newspaper stated.
The apology came after some students aggressively went after some reporters from The Daily on social media.
“It’s disgusting that you’re posting photos where protesters’ faces are fully visible alongside a MAGA hat wearer whose face is invisible. you are protecting a white supremacist. you are disrespectful and irresponsible for publicizing protesters’ faces without their consent,” one person claiming to go to Northwestern tweeted.
One student at the university tweeted that the reporting was “irresponsible and harmful.”
Campus Reform asked Northwestern whether any of the individuals issued citations are students but has not received a response.
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