Free Republic

SACRAMENTO — In May 1969 a National Guard helicopter hung over the campus of UC Berkeley, spraying protesters with what The Times then described as “heavy clouds of tear gas.” It was the sixth consecutive day of campus demonstrations over plans to develop the land known as “People’s Park.” An ambitious governor who would go on to become president had called in 2,300 National Guard troops and hundreds of Highway Patrolmen. They brought shotguns, rifles and bayonets. The problems, then-Gov. Ronald Reagan said in a feisty televised appearance, all started because universities “let young people think they had the right...

Several anti-Israel protesters vandalized a World War I memorial statue in Central Park Monday – and burned an American flag at its base – after a group of more than 1,000 marchers were blocked by cops from reaching the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where the star-studded Met Gala was in full swing. A few of the protesters lit the flag on fire at the site of the One Hundred Seventh Infantry Memorial, which they graffitied with “Gaza” in large black letters and covered in stickers reading “Stop the genocide. End the apartheid. Free Palestine.” Some of the protesters climbed atop...

Can they face the music? A frustrated fundraiser is looking to hire a mariachi band to incessantly serenade the anti-Israel encampment at the University of Pennsylvania — and supporters are donating to the idea in droves. The protesters occupying the Philadelphia campus’ College Green are reluctant to converse with outsiders, according to CNN — but have no problem shouting their ideals for all to hear, according to fundraiser Rob Martinez. “I believe these protestors (sic) should be serenaded for their efforts, just as they have constantly serenaded my efforts to study for finals with a megaphone and drum set,” Martinez...

Columbia will replace its universitywide commencement ceremony on May 15 with "smaller-scale, school-based celebrations," university officials announced Monday, after weeks of pro-Palestinian and counterprotests on campus. The Ivy League school said the decision was made after discussions with student leaders. Security concerns were the main reason behind the decision, a university official told NBC News. "Our students emphasized that these smaller-scale, school-based celebrations are most meaningful to them and their families," the university said Monday. "They are eager to cross the stage to applause and family pride and hear from their school’s invited guest speakers. As a result, we will...

On Sunday, Politico published a story suggesting that foundations tied to several top Democratic donors have been funding the pro-Palestine protest groups dogging President Joe Biden wherever he goes. “Pro-Palestianian protesters are backed by a surprising source: Biden’s biggest donors,” read the headline. The story quickly went viral — Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), for instance, posted on X that the piece confirmed “anti-Israel astroturfing.” Fox News cited the report to write that “President Biden’s biggest Democratic donors are also funding some anti-Israel protests that have taken over college campuses.” However, a Rolling Stone review of the numbers and documents cited...

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) said the ongoing pro-Palestinian college protests are “working against peace in the Middle East.” Fetterman has been outspoken about his support for Israel, saying recently that the pro-Palestinian encampments on college campuses were “pup tents” for militant group Hamas. Host Margaret Brennan asked Fetterman on CBS’s “Face the Nation” about the protests on Sunday, asking him whether he considers flying the Palestinian flag during the demonstrations to be antisemitic.

Protests roiling U.S. universities have ignited a fierce debate over where to set the limit between acceptable criticism of Israel and speech that encourages antisemitism and violence. In France, government authorities are stepping in to draw the line. Courts have ruled that public speech condoning the Oct. 7 attack or legitimizing Hamas as a resistance movement amounts to condoning terrorism—a crime under French law, punishable by up to seven years in prison. French prosecutors are investigating politicians on the far-left, union officials and hundreds of other people for allegedly condoning terrorism and inciting antisemitism since October.

Students participating in the Gaza Solidarity Encampments at universities across the country are being taught to become militants, according to nine manuals obtained by The Free Press. Many of the manuals, which are being shared via phone group chats with students across the country, encourage “militancy” and instruct protesters to break laws, seize buildings, vandalize them, and then use tactics to evade police detection and arrest. One guide, called “De-arrest Primer,” teaches protesters to physically resist arrest or, in some cases, assault police officers or throw projectiles at them to protect fellow “comrades” from arrest. “Each de-arrest,” the guide states,...

A University of North Carolina student who defended the US flag from anti-Israel protesters said he was willing to put his life on the line and said they would have had to take the flag “over my dead body.” Like many other US campuses, the quad of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was attacked by anti-Israel protesters who descended on a flag flying at half mast to commemorate four Charlotte officers who were killed in the line of duty. Stompel, who is a junior majoring in political science, recalled thinking, “I don’t understand how people can act...

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said that the protests on college campuses over Israel’s war against Hamas could be President Biden’s Vietnam War, making the comparison to the anti-war protests in the 1960s while also offering support for the president’s statement this week. “I am thinking back and other people are making this reference that this may be Biden’s Vietnam,” Sanders told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, who asked the senator what could happen to Biden and his reelection campaign. “[Former President] Lyndon Johnson in many respects was a very, very good president. Domestically he brought forth some major pieces of legislation. He...

Hamas Protesters at the University of Alabama find common ground with Patriot counter protesters as both sides chanting " Fu&k Joe Biden!

MSNBC host Joe Scarborough said Thursday on his show “Morning Joe” that viewers should change the channel if they were too stupid to realize that the protests on college campuses are hurting President Joe Biden’s chances of winning in November. Discussing the Vietnam War protests, Scarborough said, “I was young and remember my parents asking, what in the world is going on in this country? And, of course, you know, they were raised in the Great Depression and rural Georgia. It was kind of hard for them to hear rich kids on the campus of Harvard are taking over or...

Many of the anti-Israel protesters at Columbia and other college campuses are dwelling in cushy tents on the quad. These tents look pretty modern and uniform; one could only wonder who is paying for all this? In 1754, an advertisement for Columbia (then known as King’s College), promised, “The chief thing that is aimed at in this college is to teach and engage children to know God in Jesus Christ.” How far Columbia et al have strayed from the Christian faith that gave them birth.

Democrats are seemingly divided on how to respond to the anti-Israel protests and encampments that have sprouted up throughout the nation, especially in the wake of the New York Police Department’s (NYPD) raid of Columbia University Tuesday night. While some Democrat politicians, like Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), have expressed thankfulness that Columbia University “chose to have the police come in and take charge,” others, like Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), slammed the police response over students “simply exercising their first amendment rights.” “The protesters at Columbia demonstrated that there are two factions of the protesters — there’s the pro-Hamas, and then...

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass vowed Wednesday to prosecute pro-Israel vigilantes who attacked the illegal “Palestine Solidarity Encampment” at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) overnight. In a statement, Bass said she wanted those involved in the violence held responsible, noting actions reportedly taken by both the vigilantes and the pro-Palestinian activists — though only the vigilantes were said to use fireworks.

MADISON, Wis. -- Law enforcement from multiple agencies took down tents at the protest site on the campus of the University of Wisconsin Wednesday morning. Officers began clearing the space just before 7 a.m., after issuing warnings to protesters assembled. As the tents were being removed, the actions of some officers and protesters became physical. 12:00 p.m. SUMMARY In an update, UWPD spokesperson Marc Lovicott said 34 people were arrested at the protest Tuesday morning. Most were released without a citation, however, four were taken to the Dane County Jail. One person faces charges of attempted disarming of a police...

America’s academic leaders seem powerless only because they’ve spent decades promoting the ideologies now on such brutal and ugly display.The scenes unfolding at America’s most prestigious colleges are horrific. Antisemitic mobs preaching genocide — at times crossing the line into actual violence — have rendered campuses unsafe for Jews. Faculty members cheer them on, advocating for full-on pogroms.Top administrators flounder. Columbia had protesters arrested and suspended, then stood dumbfounded as a larger, more belligerent wave took their place. Unable to guarantee the physical safety of its students, the school moved all classes online. Copycat mobs on campuses across America formed...

Columbia University finally called in the cops to deal with its antisemitic protestors occupying a university building after a burglary-style break-in, and stinking up the campus lawn with an illegal campout.And what a bunch of screaming, squealing, bawling, toddlers they had on their hands to arrest and haul off:#BREAKING MASS ARRESTS as NYPD pour hundreds of cops inside Columbia University, Raiding Encampment Video by Olga Fe Desk@freedomnews.tv to license pic.twitter.com/YnS6v4V00p — Oliya Scootercaster 🛴 (@ScooterCasterNY) May 1, 2024 Look at them taking dives and pretending to be ‘injured’ for resisting arrest. Hear the squalling and screeching. Look at the stamping...

The Democrat mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, didn’t send police onto the campus of UCLA when pro-Hamas demonstrators took over parts of it and prevented Jews from entering, just as Nazis once blocked Jewish students from the University of Vienna. A Jewish girl being beaten unconscious and hospitalized also drew no police response to the state government-owned campus. But when non-student members of the Jewish community of Los Angeles entered the campus and began physically confronting the pro-Hamas demonstrators and videos of fights went out on internet, after two-plus hours [update: 3+ hours] of mayhem, the Mayor decided to...

Watch what Reagan had to say about "Mostly Peaceful" Protesters (As heard on Tuesday’s Mark Levin Show.)