Student protesters at the State University of New York Albany shouted down an event at the school which was focused on free speech on campus.
This is just the latest in a string of campus shout-downs on college campuses in recent weeks.
Based Politics reports:
Unhinged campus mob SHOUTS DOWN conservative speaker Ian Haworth at SUNY AlbanyWhen conservative commentator Ian Haworth showed up to speak at The State University of New York at Albany (SUNY Albany) on Tuesday evening, he had no idea what was about to hit him. Haworth’s talk, sponsored by Turning Point USA, was titled “Free Speech on Campus”—and an unhinged campus mob decided to show up and prove his point for him.As shown in multiple videos from the event, angry students flooded the auditorium and chanted “F*ck TPUSA,” “Ian sucks,” “this is what queer rage looks like,” and “trans rights are human rights.” (Ian and TPUSA have both been highly critical of progressive positions on trans issues.) This was explicitly done to drown out the event and prevent Haworth from speaking.“They basically proved my point for me,” Haworth told BASEDPolitics. “I showed up to the speech, I was waiting in a back room, and it got really loud. A socialist group on campus held a counter-protest downstairs—which is fine, that’s part of free speech—the issue is when they took over our auditorium, shouting into submission, hurling abuse at attendees.”“I would’ve been delighted to talk with them afterwards, answer any questions,” he added. “But that wasn’t the goal, the goal was to shut down speech and force ideas off campus.”The event was eventually able to continue, but it was significantly disrupted.
See the video below:
More video here:
FOX News has a statement from the school:
Fox News Digital reached out to both Haworth and SUNY Albany for comment, with SUNY Albany providing the following statement:”Consistent with the mission of an institution of higher learning, we expect members of our community to be able to voice their views in a manner that promotes constructive dialogue and honors UAlbany’s commitment to freedom of expression,” the school said. “This is especially important when it involves speech that members of our community find offensive or objectionable.””Our constitutional obligation to protect speech, even when that speech fundamentally conflicts with our core values, is a pillar of our democratic system. We are equally committed to fostering an environment in which all students feel safe and included — and that the right to protest is also protected,” it added.SUNY Albany pledged to help its community members understand their “rights and responsibilities under the First Amendment” and said all student organizations are entitled to reserve space and invite guest speakers “without interference.”
And a statement from the speaker, Ian Haworth:
“The protesters who stormed the Turning Point USA event on free speech at University at Albany proved my point: college campuses are where free speech goes to die. The protesters disrupted the event, abusing and insulting the TPUSA chapter, college staff, law enforcement and their fellow students, with one goal: to shut down speech. While I fully support their right to protest (even if their accusations of me being an infamous Jewish immigrant transphobic misogynistic KKK member are laughably inaccurate), the heckler’s veto is not free speech…and neither is destroying the property of TPUSA members!…”Ultimately, this isn’t about me. I doubt these protesters even knew who I was prior to this event. In reality, it’s about any ideas that threaten the fascist ideology of leftism on campus. This unfortunate event proves the threat conservatives face every day on campus, and reinforces the truth that colleges have a duty to allow free speech and debate to flourish on campus.”
The one upside of protests like this one is that they weaken the case for ‘free’ college.
Taxpayers must not be asked to fund ‘free’ college tuition as long as half of the country is not welcome on college campuses.
Featured image via Twitter video.
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