Arrest made at Coulter speech (Austin, Texas)

Incessant heckling and shouting culminated in an arrest Tuesday night during a speech by Ann Coulter, an extreme right-wing pundit, at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum.

Shouts became so pervasive during the question-and-answer session that Coulter informed the organizers she would no longer take questions if the hecklers were not silenced. For a time, the shouts were considerably lessened, until the issue of gay marriage was broached.

Coulter said she supported the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman on the basis that a good woman civilizes and inspires a man to strive for something better, leading to a question that was met with a stunned silence.

"You say that you believe in the sanctity of marriage," said Ajai Raj, an English sophomore. "How do you feel about marriages where the man does nothing but f--- his wife up the ass?"

UT Police officers approached Raj to arrest him, resulting in a mass exodus of protesters chanting, "Let him go."

"The person had been disruptive the entire event," said Matt Hardigree, former Student Events Center president. "He took the opportunity to say something lewd and offensive and then made masturbatory gestures as he exited."

Hardigree said that Cheryl Wood from the Office of the Dean of Students spoke with some of the protestors before the event, and assorted members of the Distinguished Speakers Committee asked them to sit in the back if they had signs and to leave quietly if they wanted to leave.

According to Jeffrey Stockerwell, a friend of Raj, officers violently seized Raj and illegally searched him after his question.

Representatives of the Austin People's Legal Collective were taking statements from everyone at the scene, in case it should be taken to court.

Before the speech began, the International Socialist Organization protested outside of the library, with about 12 people holding up signs with slogans such as "Racist, sexist, anti-gay, right-wing bigot go away" and "Stop the new McCarthyism."

The booing began early into Coulter's speech, when she issued a joke to pro-choice advocates.

"I wonder why those 'I Heart Partial-Birth Abortion' T-shirts aren't selling better," she said, followed by a combination of cheers and jeers.

Coulter went on to decry the conservative media bias she said liberals complain of, and she challenged the undemocratic actions of liberals with respect to Iraq and to the judiciary.

"They're always trying to act like they're oppressed," she said. "So let's do it. Let's oppress them."

One student asked Coulter why universities and institutions place microphones in front of Coulter when she advocates terrorism against liberals, prompting Coulter to mention the strength of her book sales. Coulter has had four New York Times best sellers.

The $30,000 event was co-sponsored by the Texas Union Student Events Center and Student Endowed Centennial Lectureship Committee.

And on the opinion page:

OBNOXIOUS PROTESTORS SELF-DEFEATING
by James Burnham

To be honest, I was surprised there weren't more protesters.

When the auditorium filled up to see Ann Coulter last night, I only saw about 15 people in the back with signs. They looked like the usual protest crowd. Earth tones, shaggy hair, somber faces, folks who have their own wipe-board signs to adapt for every situation.

I guess for a conventional extremist like Ann Coulter there is no good rallying point for the local upstarts. She does not particularly irritate any specific campus community.

She just generally rubs all liberals the wrong way. Yet, one can always rely on that most reliable of protest groups, the one-size-fits all International Socialist Organization.

These people continually miss the point. Ann Coulter is an entertainer. She makes a living saying extreme and inflammatory things to irritate many people while appealing to others. Her politics often border on the hilarious. My favorite is when she hints that the country would be better served were women not allowed to vote. Heresy.

Whether or not she advocates repealing the 19th amendment, nuking North Korea or forcibly teaching the Bible to every American citizen, she has a right to make these statements, and we all have a right to listen to her speak, take things with a grain of salt and enjoy the show.

Liberals, Socialists and wayward German Green Party members also have the right to stand in the back of the room holding signs. They the right to ask questions. They have even have the right to be part of the event by dominating the questions.

They do not, however, have the right to destroy the event by being disruptive and vulgar.

It baffles me that the protest crowd has not realized how absurd they look when they do things like this. Questions last night were particularly wacky. The first guy decided to ask her a question loaded with rhetoric, and as she responded, blew a noise maker at her, walked away making farting noises and giving her the finger.

The highlight of the night, however, was the erudite chap who decided to press Ann Coulter on her marriage philosophy. This gentleman's contribution needs little elaboration.

After waiting in line before the podium he had his turn to speak. At this point he posited, "You say that you believe in the sanctity of marriage ... how do you feel about marriages where the man does nothing but fuck his wife up the ass?"

He then stormed away making gestures of, shall we say, self-pleasuring, as his cronies in the back cheered wildly and everyone else's jaws dropped. This was inappropriate, uncalled for and entirely pointless.

I had the pleasure of sitting across the aisle from a family and watched a mother putting her hands over her young daughter's ears.

I would never believe this person possesses the academic mettle to even be admitted to the University if the event were not restricted to faculty and students. It is beyond me how anyone with any education could be foolish enough to think fart noises or insults makes them seem intelligent. The most ironic part of the entire circus was that Coulter came off looking rational and civil.

Conservatives do the same thing when they wax apoplectic over Michael Moore. Who cares if some overweight, pasty guy wants to fly around the country making half-cocked assertions and ignorant statements?

Most of the people who consume his products are not doing, so because they are freshly converted Bolsheviks; they are dong so because his product is entertaining. They should let him speak, just as the Socialist students should bite their tounges and let Ann Coulter fly off the handle.

All the protestors succeeded in doing was appear exactly as she described them.

Her closer was more apt than anything I could write: "They can't ask a question. They are like infants, deprived of their ability to talk."

Burnham is a government junior. He is a voting member of the Texas Union Board, which allocates funds within the Student Events Center.

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