DeSantis Rejects Accusations of Campus Anti-Israel Speech Suppression: “Florida will never let the inmates run the asylum on college campuses”

DeSantis Rejects Accusations of Campus Anti-Israel Speech Suppression: “Florida will never let the inmates run the asylum on college campuses”

A common tactic among protesters and their defenders in academia and beyond after campus anti-Israel encampments are cleared is to allege that their free speech rights were violated.

For instance, after the UNC-Chapel Hill encampment was torn down, arrests were made, and suspensions handed down, sympathetic faculty members – some of whom were carrying “Justice for Palestine” signs, demanded “accountability for the administrators whose decisions during the protest dishonored the university’s noble traditions of freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and respecting students’ rights to protest.”

Left out of their diatribe, of course, was the fact that the university had explained a couple of days prior exactly why things went down the way they did, noting that the “actions and rhetoric” of the protesters “prove they are willing to escalate their tactics to the point of putting everyone in danger.”

Not surprisingly, Florida’s similar no-nonsense approach when it comes to “peaceful protesters” acting not so peaceful on college campuses has drawn the ire of a leftist coalition that includes the NAACP and PEN America, which wrote a letter to Florida college and university presidents earlier this month claiming students’ First Amendment rights were being suppressed.

Florida’s Voice filed the exclusive report:

Led by PEN America Florida, the initial letter to Florida’s higher education leaders cited “at least 35 arrests of student protestors across the state” occurring at the University of Florida, University of South Florida, University of North Florida, and Florida State University.

The letter was written by Katie Blankenship, the director of PEN America Florida, along with leaders from the Florida Youth Action Fund, the ACLU of Florida, the NAACP Florida State Conference and more.

“Police deployed tear gas against students at the University of South Florida and universities continue to threaten use of force,” the letter stated. “Bringing in local or state law enforcement in response to peaceful protest threatens student and community safety and has a chilling effect on expression.”

In a response released Thursday, the state’s University System Chancellor, Ray Rodrigues, corrected the record:

However, merely calling a protest “peaceful” does not make it so.

At UF, those arrested “refused to comply with rules after being given multiple days, warnings and opportunities to do so by UF Police,” and included a protestor who spat on a law enforcement officer. At USF, “75 to 100 protesters arrived at the Tampa college campus . . . with wood shields, umbrellas and tents . . .” It appeared protesters “were erecting new tents in violation of the school’s rules . . . and Protesters were given until 5 p.m. to disperse. Linking arms and chanting ‘Hold the line,’ they were locked in a standoff with police.”

Alarmingly, at least one non-student protestor was found with a gun. When the USF group was given a deadline to disperse, they failed to comply. At UNF and FSU, protesters were arrested for trespass after multiple warnings. It follows that failure to follow the law, university regulation, or arming oneself is a far cry from peaceful protest.

During a speech at the University of Florida this week where Rodrigues and UF president Ben Sasse were also in attendance, Gov. Ron DeSantis reiterated his stance that there was a difference between free speech rights and what some of the campus agitators were doing:

“You do not have a right to commandeer property. You don’t have a right to go to take over parts of the university,” shared DeSantis. “You don’t have a right to go after other students based on their ethnicity, and we’re going to ensure that’s upheld in the state of Florida.”

“If we have a student that would take a janitor hostage like they did at Columbia University, the only appropriate response is that student is expelled immediately,” DeSantis also stated.

DeSantis also advocated for millions in additional safety funding for K-12 schools,  Jewish day schools, and HBCUs:

Under my watch, Florida will never let the inmates run the asylum on college campuses. Indoctrination and weak leadership have plagued so many universities around the country with disruptions, pro-Hamas encampments, and antisemitic harassment.

In Florida, encampments were cleared in minutes and commencements are running as planned. And today, I announced additional legislation and funding for school safety in Florida.

Keeping order on campus is a matter of will.

Under my watch, Florida will never let the inmates run the asylum on college campuses. Indoctrination and weak leadership have plagued so many universities around the country with disruptions, pro-Hamas encampments, and antisemitic harassment.

In Florida, encampments were… pic.twitter.com/tAilzjHciz

— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) May 8, 2024

Today, I went to the University of Florida to plant the flag in the ground—right where the short-lived Pro-Hamas encampment was attempted—that Florida stands for order, even as chaos reigns supreme in other parts of the country. pic.twitter.com/Tjfe7ZVz0h

— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) May 8, 2024

PEN America, I should note, has been mired in a war of words with anti-Israel activists within their ranks, which might be part of what contributed to their virtue signaling about Florida’s system on handling disruptive pro-Hamas protesters.

In any event, as usual, DeSantis and the team he’s put in place are right on the money when it comes to distinguishing between First Amendment rights and actions protesters take that cross the line. If only the problematic universities up north and out west would follow suit.

— Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via Twitter. —

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