Students sing, shout over ‘fascist’ Christina Hoff Sommers
Dozens of protesters at Lewis and Clark Law School attempted to derail a speech by popular author Christina Hoff Sommers Monday, shouting and even singing over her throughout the talk.
The disruption occurred after several student organizations, including the National Lawyers Guild chapter in Portland, Oregon, issued a statement calling for the “immediate revocation of Christina Sommer’s invitation to speak at [Lewis and Clark University].”
[RELATED: Students call Christina Hoff Sommers a ‘known fascist’]
According to video footage of the protest posted online by columnist Andy C. Ngo, the demonstrators occupied a portion of the lecture hall, carrying large cardboard signs that read “rape culture is not a myth” and “no platform for fascists.”
At the beginning of the lecture, the chants were led by a single demonstrator wearing a “stay woke” jacket, who shouted phrases that were echoed by her fellow protesters.
“We choose to protest male supremacy, not give it a platform!” the activists chanted as Sommers prepared to deliver her remarks. “Christina Sommers has repeatedly delegitimized the suffering of women worldwide. But we believe, our siblings and our comrades, women are not liars with victim mentality!”
“Rape culture is not a myth!” the protesters continued. “Microaggressions are real. The [gender wage gap] is real!”
When Sommers, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, attempted to speak, the demonstrators proceeded to break out into song and blast music to disrupt the event.
“What side are you on, friends, what side are you on,” they sang. “No platform for fascists, no platform at all. We will fight for justice until Christina’s gone.”
Although the protesters appeared to allow Sommers to speak during portions of the event, they demanded that she engage with them and address their grievances.
[RELATED: Students call free speech ‘violent’ while disrupting lecture]
Following the event, Sommers took to Twitter to explain that her lecture was cut short by the diversity dean at Lewis and Clark, who “approached [the] podium in middle of my talk [and] asked me to wrap up my speech [and] take questions.”
“I was never able to develop my argument,” she explained. “Shouldn’t the dean have insisted protesters allow me to finish, rather than cut speech short?”
Campus Reform reached out to the college for comment, but did not receive a response in time for publication. This article will be update if and when a statement is received.
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