Free Republic

Fires, pepper spray, smashed windows, punches, assaults, riots, domestic terrorism — all results of recent protests across the nation in which freedom of expression has escalated to violence. In the aftermath of violent protests on college campuses from University of California-Berkeley to Middlebury, and the deadly events of Charlottesville, some think it’s possible the University of Wisconsin could also reach a tipping point. Last November, chants of “shame” and “safety” from protesters drowned out the words of controversial speaker Ben Shapiro when he visited UW’s campus. Audience members retorted by shouting back “decency” and “you’re a baby.”

A Republican state senator wants an investigation into a University of Wisconsin-Madison student’s video depicting actors wearing anti-police slogans decapitating a pig-like person wearing a police uniform. The video was posted by Eneale Pickett, a UW-Madison junior who last year gained attention by marketing a T-shirt that reads, “All white people are racist.” The video is billed as a commercial for his new line of clothing, branded “No Justice.” The clothing features provocative slogans about racism, sexism, violence and police.

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) -- A UW junior says the clothing line is meant to start conversations about social justice, but many are calling messages on the clothing offensive, especially to law enforcement. Eneale Pickett created the "No Justice" clothing line in response to events such as the protests turn violent in Charlottesville last month. "Nobody really listens until you take it to the extreme," Pickett said. Shirts in his clothing line read things like "destroy the city that caused you to bury me," and "(expletive) the police they the biggest gang in Amerikkka."

DURHAM — A University of New Hampshire sorority is under investigation after a video was posted on Facebook Tuesday showing Alpha Phi members singing the rap song “Gold Digger,” which includes the N-word. UNH spokesman Erika Mantz said Wednesday that no disciplinary action against the sorority sisters has been taken, but the incident is under review. “We believe strongly in the right to free speech as recognized by the First Amendment, and we believe equally in the right of every member of our community to feel safe and respected. We continue to work to improve our campus culture through education,...

Another protest is planned for Thursday evening in St. Louis, but this time, the demonstrators are expected to be largely white. Organizers have called a 'White Allies Only' rally for 6.30pm at Kiener Plaza in downtown St. Louis. Protest organizer Cori Bush says the goal is to show that there are many white people who support the Black Lives Matter movement.

Warning: Graphic LanguageThe pejorative "Uncle Tom" causes more damage than does the word "n-----." The "N-word," when used by a white person as an epithet against a black person, is an insult, designed to convey to the recipient that he or she is a second-class citizen. It is designed to make one feel inferior. But it hasn't worked. My parents, as did the parents of my friends, said no one can make you feel inferior without your permission. Lesson learned. For decades, tests measuring self-esteem show that teenage black boys and girls test higher than do white boys and white...

Why Did the Judge Acquit a St. Louis Police Officer of Killing a Black Man? Bob Adelmann The decision on Friday to acquit a white St. Louis police officer in the fatal shooting of a black man back in December 2011 predictably set off rioting in the city. It didn’t occur to the rioters that, according to the evidence in the case, Officer Jason Stockley’s use of force was reasonable, to defend his own life against a potentially lethal threat exhibited by Anthony Lamar Smith. It didn’t matter that the judge found that the state failed to prove its allegation...

Gillespie 42%, Northam 42%

A university president in Tennessee apologized Friday for hosting black students in his home, which displayed a cotton decoration. Randy Lowry, president of Lipscomb University, apologized for showing centerpieces bearing cotton stalks while hosting black students at his home in an email sent to the school Friday and posted on Facebook. “The content of the centerpieces was offensive, and I could have handled the situation with more sensitivity,” said Lowry. “I sincerely apologize for the discomfort, anger or disappointment we caused and solicit your forgiveness.” The president reported that multiple students confided in him about the cotton decoration displayed during...

UPDATED at 7 p.m. to reflect downtown protests dissipating, protesters in Central West End. ST. LOUIS • Police pepper-sprayed demonstrators Friday afternoon as they declared the ongoing protest at Tucker Boulevard and Clark Avenue downtown as "no longer peaceful". By early evening, protesters had dissipated from downtown and were gathering in the Central West End. Hundreds filled the street there as they marched through the neighborhood. Four police officers sustained minor injuries downtown, mainly as a result of protesters throwing things at them, and more than a dozen protesters were arrested, acting Police Chief Lawrence O'Toole said. He said one...

Several businesses in and near downtown are closing early in response to the Jason Stockley verdict. The home office of Wells Fargo Advisors closed at 10 a.m. Friday. The 4,900 employees at the Market Street campus west of downtown were "strongly encouraged to take their laptops home" and continue working there," based on a statement from the company.

In 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. appeared on a BBC news show. The host asked King about Attorney General Robert Kennedy's prediction, an audacious one at the time, that a black man could be elected president in 40 years. King thought it would not take that long: "There are certain problems and prejudices and mores in our society which make it difficult now. However, I am very optimistic about the future. Frankly, I have seen certain changes in the United States over the last two years that surprise me. ... On the basis of this, I think we may...

Last night Outkick broke the news that Linda Cohn, one of the most respected women to ever work at ESPN and the person who has hosted more SportsCenters over the past 25 years than any other current employee, was called and told by ESPN president John Skipper not to come to work after she went on the radio in New York City and said as follows: “They definitely overpaid for many of these products, whether it’s the NBA or starting up networks like the Pac-12 Network and SEC Network,” she said on WABC’s “Bernie and Sid Show.” “It’s well documented...

A statue to Francis Scott Key, the writer of the Star Spangled Banner, was defaced overnight in downtown Baltimore, with someone painting “Racist Anthem” on the side of the Bolton Hill monument. Baltimore Police received a report of the vandalism at 6:30 a.m. Wednesday. They are investigating, but have no suspects.

A group has now covered the statue of Thomas Jefferson that sits in front of the University of Virginia Rotunda. Dozens turned out with Black Lives Matter signs around 8 p.m. Tuesday. Three people were on the statue that is covered in black.

The archetypal image of the campus rapist is a rich, white fraternity athlete. The case of Brock Turner—the freshman swimmer at Stanford University convicted last year of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman after meeting her at a party, but sentenced to only six months in jail—reinforced this. Petula Dvorak, a Washington Post columnist, wrote, “The brilliant smile of a Stanford swimmer with Olympic dreams, the happy privileged face of a white college kid named Brock Turner … This is what a campus sexual predator looks like.” Amy Ziering, the producer of The Hunting Ground, a 2015 campus-sexual-assault documentary, has said...

An acclaimed British conductor has been fired from a prestigious American music festival after a seemingly innocent joke he made to a black friend was labelled racist. Matthew Halls was removed as artistic director of the Oregon Bach Festival following an incident in which he imitated a southern American accent while talking to his longstanding friend, the African-American classical singer Reginald Mobley.

Seattle Seahawks star Michael Bennett joined other NFL athletes on Sunday in protesting the treatment of minorities by US law enforcement during season-opening weekend. Michael sat on a bench as The Star-Spangled Banner played before the Seahawks' opener against the Green Bay Packers, while teammate Justin Britt put a hand on his shoulder.

Yesterday morning the sports media united in praise and sympathy for Seattle Seahawk defensive end Michael Bennett when he tweeted out a story which claimed police had singled him out, pointed their guns at him, threatened to blow his brains out, and detained him in the back of a police car for “doing nothing more than simply being a black man in the wrong place at the wrong time.” That message he posted on Twitter has since been favorited or retweeted 582,000 times. When I read Bennett’s story yesterday morning, the facts didn’t make sense to me. Bennett alleged that...

Hurricane Harvey reveals an America that many in the media seem not to know exists: a multi-ethnic, multiracial country where people, for the most part, get along. For those who claim that President Donald Trump "coarsened" our politics and "set back race relations," Hurricane Harvey was pretty bad optics. Only weeks ago, some Democrats were counting the days toward Trump's impeachment and an early departure from the presidency. But last week they saw Trump, in Texas, looking quite presidential in his role as comforter in chief. They saw photos of a president soothing and embracing survivors, no matter their...