You're just pissed because you and your brownshirt thugs weren't able to stop the event completely.
Posted on 12/01/2006 5:46:14 AM PST by DarkSavant
A campus discussion about illegal immigration turned violent Thursday evening, when protesters clashed with the MSU College Republicans and Young Americans for Freedom, who sponsored the event.
Kyle Bristow, chairman of the Young Americans for Freedom, or YAF, said he was kicked and spat upon by some of the protesters when he was outside the MSU College of Law, where the discussion was being held.
"It saddens me that my fellow Spartans would display this type of behavior," he said. "They are racist. It's sad we need police to come to control these radical leftists."
Unable to identify the people who assaulted him, Bristow said he wasn't planning to file a police report.
MSU police were dispatched to the event after an employee of the law college called the department, MSU police Sgt. Brian McDaniel said.
"About 10 to 20 protesters disrupted the event," he said. "We believe they were responsible for pulling the fire alarm."
Protesters said they came to show their opposition to controversial Republican congressman Tom Tancredo, of Colorado, who spoke at the event. Before Tancredo arrived and while the event was being set up, protesters gathered on the fourth floor of the law college with signs that read "Ignorant Racist."
Someone in the building set off a fire alarm twice throughout the evening. After the first alarm was pulled, a few hundred people were evacuated from the building. The person or persons responsible for pulling the alarm could face a misdemeanor or felony charge if caught, McDaniel said.
Randy McPherson, whose sign read "Where's the wall to keep you out?" came to protest when he heard that the congressman would be speaking.
"God works in mysterious ways," said McPherson, a food science and premedical junior, after the second fire alarm was pulled. "(Tancredo) shouldn't be here."
Some protesters weren't allowed inside the discussion room because they had signs, which aren't allowed in the law college. The people who attended to oppose the event said they came to represent themselves — not the minority campus groups with which they are affiliated.
Another student who came to protest the event said she wanted to make sure it was known that Tancredo is racist.
"We were here to protest the whole event," said Claudia Gonzalez, an interdisciplinary studies in social science and community relations senior. "It got heated and there was a lot of disagreement and argument. This is a very big issue."
While waiting for the discussion to start, accounting graduate student Matt Ledesma said he witnessed someone being pulled out of the discussion area for spitting on someone.
"They were being disruptive," he said. "Someone pulled the fire alarm, which got us all out here."
After everyone was allowed back into the law college, Tancredo addressed a crowd of more than 40 people, who clapped and booed when he began speaking.
His speech focused on illegal immigration in the United States and emphasized looking at the issue with a clear head.
"Look, you can't get emotional," Tancredo said during his speech. "Let's just talk about the policy."
He also stressed the importance of a single national language, which he believes should be English, but added he supports people who are bilingual.
"I think diversity is a great thing," he said. "But it becomes a negative thing when it's the only thing."
A 10-minute question-and-answer session was held at the end of the event. Students wrote their questions on note cards, and MSU College Republicans chairman Jeff Wiggins asked a few of the questions. Tancredo left shortly after he spoke, ignoring many of the questions.
Wiggins, who helped arrange the event, said he was surprised at the protesters' reaction.
"(Tancredo) was not in the building when this went on," he said. "We were in here setting up. We tried to tell them signs are not allowed in the law college."
Jose Villagran, a interdisciplinary studies in social science senior, asked "Why have you been cited for hiring undocumented workers for personal construction?" His question was not asked by Wiggins, who did not pose controversial questions.
Dane, you are a joke.
After all your WOD bravado and BS it ends up you have less respect for the law than most.
Loserdopetarian?
The loser is you.
MSU is in what state? Mississippi, Misouri, Montana, Maine, or what?
Fire alarms pulled, spitting, moonbats hanging from the rafters . . . .
Apparently Michigan State University is a `marketplace of ideas', as long as those ideas are liberal.
College administrators? Campus cops? MIA
The worst part is the fact that MSU is more conservative than UofM.
Perhaps Mr. Tancredo, regardless of his salary, is not AFRAID of questions, but has had enough of people who come not to question but to harrass and bully and shout him down, and perhaps to do violence to the crowd gathered to hear him.
AMEN to that!
Michigan
That's what I've heard. Too bad they can't protect their guest speakers from hooligans.
I've heard him many times, and many times he's been asked hard questions. He thrives on those kinds of questions.
I suspect he just didn't want the kind of haranguing that Marxists glory in.
ping
Lie, lie and then lie some more.
Hey, that's just like you!
L
It's quite a stretch to paint an elected congressman who wants to address a genuine problem with the same brush as brownshirts who want to silence any discussion with which they disagree.
You're just pissed because you and your brownshirt thugs weren't able to stop the event completely.
WTF?
What other language is in the running?
Lovin' free speech.
And this goes for the left and the right. Your right to free speech ends when you enter a scheduled speaking event. The same is true of a play or concert. If you are not the one scheduled to speak, shut the hell up.
If you want to protest, take it out side.
When you disrupt a speaking event you are directly violating someone else’s constitutional rights. Universities should sanction students who disrupt these events and bar non-students who participate in disruptions from the campus grounds.
I can’t understand why academia is letting this continue. Its making them look completely unorganized, out of control, and frankly unserious.
They're acting just like they do in Mexico, and this is exactly how they will act EVERY time they don't like something, or if they want something, they will do it by force, if necessary. THIS is the result of illegal immigration!!!!
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