State Police arrest 23 more protesters at Indiana University on Saturday
The issue, apparently, is tents. What is the problem with tents??
State Police again confronted protesters on the campus of Indiana University on Saturday afternoon, advancing on them and arresting 23 of them when they refused orders to dismantle their tents.
This was a repeat of the extraordinary events that occurred on campus on Thursday when — for likely the first time in the 204-year history of the university — Indiana State Police confronted protesters in a line, pushing against them and tackling and arresting 33 of them, including three professors.
There have now been a total of 56 arrests of protesters in three days — protesters who were not committing any acts of violence, causing any destruction or blocking traffic.
At least one of the professors arrested on Thursday has been barred from campus for a year. On Friday morning, at a faculty rally in front of Bryan Hall, the administration building, he stood across the street, addressing them with a megaphone from city property, to avoid stepping onto campus.
The Indiana University Police Department issued a press release on Saturday afternoon, saying they’d “responded to the encampment” along with the Indiana State Police on Saturday.
“After numerous written and verbal communications that free speech and protest are permissible but the presence of unapproved temporary or permanent structures violates university policy, a group of individuals erected numerous tents and canopies on Friday night with the stated intention to occupy the university space indefinitely.”
This statement is not quite correct.
Protesters brought tents back into Dunn Meadow on Friday morning, walking there from Bryan Hall, where they’d been gathered with faculty supporters.
And on the issue of tents…the release fails to mention that tent encampments in Dunn Meadow have been have been a normal site during anti-war demonstrations over the years, including in the early 1990s, during the First Gulf War and also during the demonstrations against the Apartheid regime in South Africa,… and that after more than 50 years, the policy suddenly changed on Wednesday night, hours before the planned pro-Palestine protest by the IU Divestment Coalition was set to begin.
IU announced late Wednesday and on Thursday morning that “structures” (to include tents) would now require permission and that overnight structures would not be allowed.
State Police, along with members of the IU Police Department, arrived in Dunn Meadow at about 12:20 p.m. on Saturday and gave warnings to remove the tents.
“At approximately 12:35 p.m. individuals who refused to remove their structures from university property were detained and removed,” IUPD’s release says.
Twenty-three individuals were taken to the county jail and charged with offenses ranging from criminal trespass to resisting law enforcement.
Video of today’s arrests:
From Jeff Childers, "Click Orlando ran a local interest story yesterday headlined, “UF sets student protest boundaries, threatens 3-year ban for rulebreakers.” The sub-headline explained, “Students allowed only to engage in speech, express viewpoints and hold signs.” In other words, no summer camping.
Florida’s largest public university is located right in my home town. Local sources advised me that campus police woke the protestors up every thirty minutes throughout the night last night. The protestors appeared a little bleary-eyed this morning.
The University of Florida also handed out flyers to protestors yesterday, with three categories of permitted activity and fourteen categories of prohibited conduct:
Division of Student Life
Allowable Activities
SpeechExpressing viewpoints
Holding signs in hands
Prohibitive Items and Activities
No amplified sound
No demonstrations inside buildings
No littering
No sleeping
No unmanned signs
No blocking ingress/egress
No building of structures (chairs, stakes, benches, tables)
No camping, including tents, sleeping bags, pillows, etc.
No disruption
No threats
No violence
No weapons Any other items and/or activities deemed to be non-compliant with policy and regulations byuniversity officials.
Consequences for Non-ComplianceIndividuals found responsible for engaging in prohibited activities shall be trespassed from campus.Students will receive a 3 year trespass and suspension.Employees will be trespassed and separated from employment
Plus, any UF staff who break the rules will be “separated from employment,” which is a neat euphemism for terminated with prejudice.
Florida’s approach is one that all universities should follow, preserving the right to lawful First Amendment speech but also stopping the campus from becoming an angry circus that no one would pay to see."
It is possible that many of the citizens of Indiana support free speech, view point expression, and holding signs but do not want to see "summer" camping on campus during commencement. Or we could just start charging camping fees for the tents, kiosks, port pots?
Looks like freedom to assemble peaceably is being quashed. January 6, 2021 is a case in point.
Our First Amendment. An egregious violation of Americans Constitutional right of freedom of assembly was taken away by dictats from the Biden Administration and the CDC.
What does the First Amendment right to assemble refer to?
The First Amendment ensures freedom of speech and assembly. The plain text of the Amendment does not permit regulations on the time, place, and manner of assemblies. The right to assembly is a very important means for conveying ideas that are protected by the First Amendment.
The Constitution
First Amendment
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.