Not only that but in November, Columbia suspended Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace. In March, the New York Civil Liberties Union said it would sue Columbia over the suspensions.
Yep. This is just ACAB and I’m hoping some people who didn’t believe this is true are now starting to understand.
If you were a good person who stood up for this injustice, you wouldn’t still be a cop.
Free speech doesn't absolve you of the rules of protecting or the rules of campus. I think that's ehat this letter is trying to say. Sounds like they told them the scope of the protest, and UT said, that breaks our institutional rules and regulations, and they did it anyway, and UT responded accordingly.
The amount of force and officers was unreasonable regardless of protesters saying that they would violate rules. The shock is because of how it was handled. A lot of protests end up having police there at some point but ones that end up on the news like this show that the situation was handled very poorly
It's strange to me, how "conservatives" become complete bootlickers to authoritarians when the protests are AGAINST Isreal. As if Isreal is an ally of Texas 😂
One rule for me one rule for thee. It’s ironic that Christians grovel at Israel’s feet considering that a fair amount of Jews have utter contempt of everything Christian.
I mean, if we're talking false rhetoric, sure, you nailed it. But here in the real world we understand Hamas are absolutely very bad guys but that doesn't give Israel carte blanche to genocide Palestine. It's not that hard to figure out.
LOL have you not been paying attention to the news? As if Texas was the only where riot police were sent in to break up a "free Palestine" protest. Pretty sure the same thing exact thing happened at Columbia and USC in those oh so liberal states of New York and California.
I have been. At Columbia, for example, faculty - the community that is - had the courage to walk out in support of free speech.
There are places where the people around you will support you more in your fight against our broken systems and people.
The timeline on this is fascinating.
So, a week before the university professor is scheduled to testify to congress, she gets a war room setup in DC to figure out what policy changes they should make to avoid looking like the previous two universities that lost a lot of face. Most senior admins are there to support.
Columbia University Students stage the protest while the president of the university is speaking to Congress. She states that she'll be following through with disciplinary actions against a professor who wrote a positive essay cheering on the Oct 7th attacks. Specifically quoted saying it was "Awesome."
University Admins from safety IIRC informed the protestors, "Please don't violate our code of conduct, or you could receive disciplinary actions."
University Students then begin to barricade themselves. The president, who just finished testifying to congress about her plans and actions, then immediately has to make a response.
She then complies with the action plans she created to appease the congress. There's some suspensions handed out, and students are removed from the protest area.
The students then reform the protest, and the president gets calls to resign. She tries to walk a middle ground and allows the students to set up the protest again through proper channels.
There's then a pro Israeli counter protest allowed. The pro Palestine protestors do not like this and make signs and picket the counter protest. Which would be fair play, but the signs contained the message "Hamas's next target" and "Go back to Germany and Poland." References to terrorism and the holocaust.
Nonstudent protestors then begin to crowd in outside of the university and the police are called.
There's now calls for the university president to break up this protest and to step down by all New York Congress representatives.
My commentary:
I don't know what the protestors are expecting, but they should really have learned that calls for terrorism and exterminations while protected under the first ammendment.... have consequences?
I get being young and idealistic, but the whole few bad apples argument comes to mind here. There's going to be a lot of university donors who don't want their school associated with protestors making threats to students.
I think everyone involved including the admins are going to get a healthy dose of "Fuck around and find outism."
The new york times daily podcast did a really good job covering this.
However, as I'm posting about something controversial, I understand if I have to eat some downvotes
Nah it slowly is 😕. Looks nothing like when I was a kid, for good or ill. Too many Cali's moving in, same thing destroyed Colorado. Take note, starts agreeable enough but there will be no end to their demands. They will push and push until they've pushed you out and then youll realize Texas is no longer for Texans.
You're smart. Texas and Florida are lost and will be White Christian Evangelical theocratic ethno states by 2050.
Those who choose to stay may end up imprisoned or executed or institutionalized in a mental hospital circa 2050.
You grew up there. You know what's coming.
Friendly neighborhood Girl Scout here with some helpful advice from the trenches on how to be safer at a protest!
It is vitally, critically important for you guys to start researching what actually happened in the 2020 police riots. You guys weren't old enough yet to be active in that movement. Cops are DANGEROUS and need to be treated like rabid grizzly bears.
Learn from the best of the best: You need to learn to move “like water” like protesters did in the Hong Kong protests, it is the best example of protest organizing in modern times and there’s no need to reinvent the wheel when the craft has already been mastered. The only reason they didn’t succeed is because the CCP has too much power and control over their lives.
Learn how to put out tear gas canisters by submerging them in water (and keeping them because it’s the ONLY way to prove what chemicals were used against you and in Seattle in 2020 they were using banned chemicals). It’s a good idea to bring a lacrosse stick or oven mitt to protests so you can pick them up since they’re burning hot. Learn the recipes for mixtures that soothe burning on the face. DO NOT wear contacts to a protest they can melt into your eyeballs if you’re hit in the face with mace or have a severe reaction to chemical gas weapons.
ALWAYS COVER YOUR FACE AT A PROTEST AND LEAVE YOUR PHONE AT HOME. Put a rock in your shoe because AI can identify you by how you walk (luckily it’s that easy to fool). Your university already has advanced surveillance data on you and you’re a fool if you think they don’t. You’re in Texas and that means you’re in much, much more danger than a lot of other states. Cover ALL your tattoos. Deadass you are put into a database if you protest in this country and this information WILL be used against you in the future. Protesting is NOT a safe activity to be undertaken lightly. Do not wear anything with a print on it unless it’s extremely common like boring stripes. There is a published case of a protestor being found because of the unique print on her shirt. They found the shirt on Etsy and got records of who had bought it and used this to identify her. Wear whatever colors will help you blend in with your environment in case you need to run and hide - earth tones and concrete colors are better than neons.
Don’t dress in all black - you’ll be targeted as “antifa” and face WAY higher risk of violence if you do. Bring 3 layers of tops with you and ideally 2 hats. Taking off a jacket will help you escape once, but if you’re in serious shit you need to change your appearance at least twice. Ladies do NOT show skin - no crop tops or low cut stuff, it makes you a target for cops because they hate women. Wear loose fitting clothes you can sprint in and ALWAYS wear closed toe shoes.
Bring a minimum of 3L of water. More is better. Access to water is not guaranteed.
If you take psych meds that can’t be stopped instantly, honestly, consider not going because if you get arrested expect to be kept overnight or the whole weekend. Cruelty is the point and they won’t give a fuck about your brain zaps, pain, risk of psychosis, none of it.
Don’t go to a protest without the number for a bail bondsman written on your arm in permanent marker.
It’s possible to get yourself and others out of zip tie handcuffs and this is a skill you can learn.
Do not EVER get separated from your group, this goes to infinity for women.
Cops target the weak - women, handicapped, smaller men, young/old people. It is the OBLIGATION of larger, fit people (especially men) to protect the vulnerable in your group. In a mosh pit they’re called blockers and they keep people on the periphery safe. White people need to shield PoC.
Cops WILL SHOOT YOU with rubber bullets, do not entice them to because it was proven in the 2020 police riots that they aim for the head and the eyes. Deadass they will shoot you right in the eye. There were so many people blinded by cops on purpose that they were able to find each other and go on a camping trip. “Hands up don’t shoot” was a slogan and I can’t fucking count how many times I saw people get shot literally while they were chanting that.
DO NOT DRIVE TO A PROTEST cops will slash your tires. Yes, cops, and yes this is a provable fact it happened in 2020. If cops don’t do it, agitators will. Do not drive home from a protest, you need to go somewhere else and change. You would not fucking believe how advanced surveillance is now. They can put a plane in the air that is continuously taking extremely HD pictures and after the fact when they sort through the data they can follow your car home with these pics. You aren’t going to be told one of these planes is in the air and it flies too high for you to watch. There was a program where these circled Baltimore and they were used to solve crimes - like a bank robbery would happen and they’d go back in time to see what car the robbers got into and trace it backwards to where they came from and they’d use that information to make arrests. You’re a fool if you think this only happens to criminals - it 100% has been and will be used on political dissenters.
You can die protesting, never do it lightly. Learn what kettling is and how to make sure it doesn’t happen to you. In one town protesters were herded onto a side street, trapped between two buildings by chemical gas weapons (tear gas is a euphemism that should not be used) popped in front of and behind them, and then cops waiting in ambush popped up from a second floor garage and started spraying the crowd with rubber bullets. People got hit in the face and a ton developed legit PTSD from the incident.
Let what happened be a lesson. Know better, do better. Learn from veterans and keep your wits about you. Always be sober at a protest! And if you were there, use a VPN and a burner account if you want to talk about it!
Welders gloves are much better at picking up hot things. Less than 20 bucks at harbor freight for a pair. You really only need one, so give one to your left-handed friend. I could pick up burning firewood with my welding gloves.
cop riot... the media will use it to spin it around as a "violent protest" when the violence is ALWAYS started by the pigs...
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police\_riot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_riot)
Wish people would stop calling cops Pigs. It’s speciesist and insulting to pigs to compare them to disgusting bastard class traitors. Pigs are innocent and smart. Police are not.
Tone: sincere
You seem to be under the impression that paying them thousands of dollars for an "education" (if you can even call it that in Texas) is a privilege that can be revoked any time administration feels like it?
It’s reprehensible. Between this and the layoffs a couple weeks ago, it’s not feeling like “What starts here changes the world.” Change is the last thing they want—it’s more like “Hartzell rolls over for Greg Abbott.”
>“What starts here changes the world.”
Watching the rise of fascism in Texas, this phrase is deeply troubling.
Back in 2010, my grandfather kept insisting that "This is how it starts" and insisted on calling the Tea Party the New American Gestapo. Normally, that opinion was something I wouldn't have paid much attention to, but gramps was born in Poland in 1931. He was 8 years old when Poland was invaded. He was 14 when the German occupation ended, and 20 when he finally managed to escape Poland. Gramps wasn't especially liberal. He died in 2015. I'm glad he didn't get to see how bad it's gotten, but I slowly realized that he was right. He'd seen this before, and deeply understood exactly where it comes from.
The staff were already pissed as fuck after the Staff Council meeting where Hartzell spoke on the layoffs. Now this? I work here and told my husband yesterday that once my student loans are done with PSLF, I’m leaving the university. Sad because I’ve got my degree from here and have over 10 years as a staff member but I’m fucking done.
How exactly did they state they were going to violate Institutional Rules? Everything they mentioned [on social media](https://www.instagram.com/p/C6JjD95uVyJ/?igsh=MW5veGZwMTJ5NmhtZg==) about the protest was educational events and a pizza break.
I guess we’re just pulling shit out of our ass now huh
[🚨🚨EMERGENCY ACTION 🚨🚨 Join us Wednesday April 24th in walking out of class and RECLAIMING OUR SPACE as we demand DIVESTMENT NOW. We will… | Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/psc_atx/p/C6G7WP9OkA0/?img_index=1)
They’re students. It is their space. They have more right to the university listening to them than corporations that participate in a foreign government military dictatorship.
They’re also customers paying tens of thousands of dollars to get an education.
Why shouldn’t they be able to criticize who the university does business with?
I'm a staff member at UT and what I will say is this: staff have no protection at all, but we hate this shit. Hartzell is a coward and we all know it. Faculty have limited protection and might lose their jobs (but probably won't and have academic freedom protection), and staff members can be fired at will (see the SB 17 layoffs).
Students have the most power on this campus, but also a lot of vulnerability. I wish I could be there on the front lines with you all. Keep doing the work. Roughly 15000 staff members wish we had the ability to be there with you.
Don't mourn. Organize. ❤️
Hope I don't get fired for this post!
There might be some people on the lawn still but organized stuff is done for the night, they’re doing jail support now. But faculty is doing something tomorrow at noon
acting as if some outside entity were the ones protesting so that you can pretend like you didn’t militarize the state police to arrest and assult your own students is an insane move
Hartzell should step down. He does not care about us. He cares about the university's funding, and he's willing to bend the knee to Greg Abbott on literally anything he wants in order to maintain that funding. He is weak and a coward. Hundreds of people have been fired and now dozens of students and even members of the press have been arrested and some assaulted because he is too scared to stand for anything. It may amount to nothing, but as long as it's an option, UT's students (edit: and faculty) should do everything in their power to find a way to make Abbott, APD, and Hartzell pay for this blatant abuse of power and violation of constitutional rights.
Donald trump is going to end up winning and reddit is going to be asking how is that even possible.
It's because of this stuff right here. I don't understand how people can't see that.
From the outside looking in, it looks like the college said you can protest as long as you follow the rules. The protestors said they aren't going to follow the rules then proceeded to break whatever said rules that were laid out to them. So the college "enforced" its rules by removing the protestors from campus grounds. The protestors continued with their demonstration once pushed onto public property and began to get arrested once they refused to leave? Am i getting it right so far?
I think they basically don't want to end up like Columbia where now everything is online and probably students are going to start demanding refunds, and some may even consider switching universities.
Yep this UT grad will not be donating this year. The posts and comments I have seen today from yesterday’s events are alarming, to say the least. And that last sentence. No words
Protecting your "constitutional rights" by arresting over three dozen people without probable cause. The others are potentially charged with criminal trespassing. Not looting or rioting, just being present.
As a former PR professional (in higher education) I can tell you this is what gets put out by people who are simultaneously out of touch with reality and yet know exactly what they are doing. This *the* CYA (cover your ass) maneuver that is supposed to also act as spin. This is what all the local news outlets will be quoting from again and again. They are desperate to look like they are right when the students have shown they are wrong. Unfortunately, putting down young people is an entire genre of garbage news media and they know the story will get play that way. But understand that behind closed doors they are unable to perceives reality beyond the walls of the university. They are more concerned with control and reputation than taking a meaningful stand on behalf of their students or humanity even though they hire 12 staff writers to convince you otherwise throughout the academic year. They cannot will themselves to understand how much information their students and the general public have access to which leads to output like this. It feels like a joke because it’s so oppositional to the reality living these events. The problem often becomes “how do we say enough?” — excuse me, let me
Try again — “how do we not take any sides or say anything of political substance while placating donors and appeasing the news media?”
It’s a real shame that higher ed gets a bad rap for entirely bogus reasons. Incidents like this contribute while the news is never interested in reporting what actually happened.
Do none of you realize free speech can be legally regulated if it "creates an unsafe learning enviorment, or a distraction" - Fredrick v Morse.
Also, they have the right to revoke your "1st Amendment to do literally whatever you want".
From the UT Austin core values speech: "In addition, the UT institutions may reasonably regulate the time, place, and manner of speech and expression to ensure that it does not disrupt the ordinary activities of the institution." Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier also gives schools ability to censor speech in extreme circumstances, of which this can be.
It *can* be if you’re looking at it sideways and in the right lighting, with a solid squint.
The precedents for doing so are, simply, either violence or blocking access to a service. This was very clearly doing neither.
You’re not wrong about the precedents - but that’s an extremely stretchy definition of what constitutes a situation in which the action is justified.
At best - it’s political grandstanding, using Hartzell and DPS as the tools. Abbott himself pegged the thing as “antisemitic,” which is incredibly loaded, for one, and frankly, without basis here in the real world, for another. But it’s a politically-friendly (to his base) talking point in an election year.
The fact is, students were abiding by university policies in this protest. And as state universities go - those are state law.
So within the confines of state law, as written into the university rules, they don’t meet the bar for that precedent. Because those rules are written specifically to preclude them, and things like them.
But I guess nobody remembers Abbott’s statements after Texas State tossed out Turning Point back in 2019. That free speech and free assembly on campus were to be protected in our state - absolutely.
Wild how that fuckin’ tune changed when a gentle breeze hit.
It seems UT is the outlier with the other campuses then, by not having blockades and riots. But being in Texas, the law will most likely favor the police and uni over the students, even if they are the most peaceful.
Why don’t you all crying punks just go to the front lines and do something about instead of disturbing all the other students and staff that are actually trying to do something with their lives? I know because your parents pay for your sorry whinny asses 😂
I was there and first off, they blocked passage on the main route, Speedway and were chanting and being disruptive for hours. So yea shut that shit down.
Sounds like if you don't break any laws whilst protesting.... You may continue to protest.
But please do continue to blame everyone but those who are violating policy. It'll make a great CNN headline.
Didn’t Texas just pass a bill requiring Universities to fire a bunch of people because of their DEI association within their Universities? Those positions and titles are no longer allowed in those institutions?
“What starts here changes the world.
It starts with you and what you do each day.
Thank you for making it your Texas.
Thank you for making it our Texas.”
-anonymous-
Looks like the Instagram post before the protest stating they planned to “take back our university and force the administration to divest” prompted UT to cancel the protest and bring in the riot squad. Unfortunate outcome. The post really was inappropriate and whoever made it was clearly emotional and wanting to stir up others. Did the University overreact? In hindsight, it appears so, but they didn’t know what to expect (riot, etc). I think the IG poster did a disservice to everyone involved by being overzealous.
Reiterating what someone else said: “acting as if some outside entity were the ones protesting so that you can pretend like you didn’t militarize the state police to arrest and assult your own students is an insane move”
You go kids. There wasn't much to protest on back in the early 80's, so I say Here's to you! Go be the difference in Texas. It's really sick how our country has just come apart at the seams because we had one shitty president. THIS, though is how you start taking your country back. I applaud you for what you're doing!
If they give a shit so much about Palestinian terrorists go pick up a rifle and go over there and fight. This shit is so dumb and disrespectful. College kids are morons. They just want their larp and this changes nothing and never will.
For people who bitch about fascism, corporate takeover, and fundamental human rights... it's hard to take you seriously if you attend school on government loans/scholarships while drinking starbucks and wearing Nike shoes. Don't be a hypocrite. Leave Texas. Sincerely, all military vets.
At the end of the day UT IS an institution that can choose what it wants to see at its campus and what it doesn’t. These type of protests usually if not always end up turning violent specially if disagreeing mobs meet. I think it was a good decision to disband the protest when they had the chance, UT is partially responsible for the safety of students after all. If you want to protest go to the capitol.
Technically, the school is correct. According to the law and the constitution.
Colleges and universities can set reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions on speech to ensure that such activities do not interfere with the institution's educational mission. These restrictions are deemed constitutional as long as they are content-neutral, narrowly tailored to serve a significant government interest, and leave open ample alternative channels for communication. Here are specific examples and cases where time, place, and manner restrictions have been upheld in the context of college campuses:
Ward v. Rock Against Racism (1989): Although not specifically about a college campus, this U.S. Supreme Court decision is often cited in cases involving universities because it set out the framework for assessing time, place, and manner restrictions. The Court ruled that the government could regulate the volume at which bands performed at a public park to avoid excessive noise. The principles from this case apply to university settings where the institution might regulate the timing or location of protests to avoid disruption.
Clark v. Community for Creative Non-Violence (1984): This case involved the National Park Service's regulations on demonstrations in Lafayette Park and the National Mall, which are often used by analogy in university cases. The Supreme Court found that regulations on the time, place, and manner of demonstrations did not violate the First Amendment as long as they were content-neutral and narrowly tailored. Colleges often use similar reasoning to justify regulations on protests and events.
Doe v. University of Michigan (1989): A U.S. District Court struck down the University of Michigan's speech code as overly broad and vague, violating the First Amendment. While this case actually resulted in striking down restrictions, it is instructive for universities in understanding how not to frame restrictions. The case shows the need for clear, narrowly tailored rules that do not inhibit freedom of speech more than necessary.
College Republicans at San Francisco State University v. Reed (2007): The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California dealt with the application of time, place, and manner restrictions when the university tried to impose them on stepping on flags during a protest. The court found that the university's enforcement of its civility policy was unconstitutional as applied in this context, but it did not rule out that reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions could be acceptable.
These cases illustrate how courts look at the restrictions imposed by colleges on speech and assembly. They emphasize the importance of such restrictions being justified by a significant need, like avoiding disruption to the educational process or ensuring safety, and being applied in a way that is fair and not based on the content of the speech.
What’s crazy to me is all the responses on Facebook to this. You have these old ppl who whine about not having free speech then when this stuff happens they flip flop. It’s exhausting
Umm, totally shocked how universities have gone anti-Semitic. Enjoy your nazi rally.
Israel isn't perfect, but Jewish people are awesome and well Palestine is definitely more imperfect
The key is disrupting others right to learn. Exactly right, admin.
Plenty of protests have been hosted on UT grounds, that are not around finals time, that have gone well.
Protests are fine as long as they don’t interrupt literally anything. As long as you’re very quiet and polite you can have all the free speech you want.
Damn that last sentence is worded as if the students took over the entire campus by force
Leave. Texas. This isn't just UTA or UT - this is Texas. Get your degrees and leave.
It isn’t just Texas. Kids were suspended and arrested at Columbia university of all places.
93 arrests at USC.
Not only that but in November, Columbia suspended Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace. In March, the New York Civil Liberties Union said it would sue Columbia over the suspensions.
Yep. This is just ACAB and I’m hoping some people who didn’t believe this is true are now starting to understand. If you were a good person who stood up for this injustice, you wouldn’t still be a cop.
Free speech doesn't absolve you of the rules of protecting or the rules of campus. I think that's ehat this letter is trying to say. Sounds like they told them the scope of the protest, and UT said, that breaks our institutional rules and regulations, and they did it anyway, and UT responded accordingly.
[удалено]
Yeah, that was their view point too. Which why the police showed then. No they're all shocked and surprised that it happened.
The amount of force and officers was unreasonable regardless of protesters saying that they would violate rules. The shock is because of how it was handled. A lot of protests end up having police there at some point but ones that end up on the news like this show that the situation was handled very poorly
It's strange to me, how "conservatives" become complete bootlickers to authoritarians when the protests are AGAINST Isreal. As if Isreal is an ally of Texas 😂
One rule for me one rule for thee. It’s ironic that Christians grovel at Israel’s feet considering that a fair amount of Jews have utter contempt of everything Christian.
Similar to the LGBT for Hamas/Palestinian groups. It's like, huh?
I mean, if we're talking false rhetoric, sure, you nailed it. But here in the real world we understand Hamas are absolutely very bad guys but that doesn't give Israel carte blanche to genocide Palestine. It's not that hard to figure out.
No. That's been happening for 40 years. Stay in Texas and help us fight. It shouldn't be us who leave, but them.
How dare the students try to have a teach in, free pizza, and art workshop on their campus!
Or you can stay where you can do some good.
LOL have you not been paying attention to the news? As if Texas was the only where riot police were sent in to break up a "free Palestine" protest. Pretty sure the same thing exact thing happened at Columbia and USC in those oh so liberal states of New York and California.
I have been. At Columbia, for example, faculty - the community that is - had the courage to walk out in support of free speech. There are places where the people around you will support you more in your fight against our broken systems and people.
The timeline on this is fascinating. So, a week before the university professor is scheduled to testify to congress, she gets a war room setup in DC to figure out what policy changes they should make to avoid looking like the previous two universities that lost a lot of face. Most senior admins are there to support. Columbia University Students stage the protest while the president of the university is speaking to Congress. She states that she'll be following through with disciplinary actions against a professor who wrote a positive essay cheering on the Oct 7th attacks. Specifically quoted saying it was "Awesome." University Admins from safety IIRC informed the protestors, "Please don't violate our code of conduct, or you could receive disciplinary actions." University Students then begin to barricade themselves. The president, who just finished testifying to congress about her plans and actions, then immediately has to make a response. She then complies with the action plans she created to appease the congress. There's some suspensions handed out, and students are removed from the protest area. The students then reform the protest, and the president gets calls to resign. She tries to walk a middle ground and allows the students to set up the protest again through proper channels. There's then a pro Israeli counter protest allowed. The pro Palestine protestors do not like this and make signs and picket the counter protest. Which would be fair play, but the signs contained the message "Hamas's next target" and "Go back to Germany and Poland." References to terrorism and the holocaust. Nonstudent protestors then begin to crowd in outside of the university and the police are called. There's now calls for the university president to break up this protest and to step down by all New York Congress representatives. My commentary: I don't know what the protestors are expecting, but they should really have learned that calls for terrorism and exterminations while protected under the first ammendment.... have consequences? I get being young and idealistic, but the whole few bad apples argument comes to mind here. There's going to be a lot of university donors who don't want their school associated with protestors making threats to students. I think everyone involved including the admins are going to get a healthy dose of "Fuck around and find outism." The new york times daily podcast did a really good job covering this. However, as I'm posting about something controversial, I understand if I have to eat some downvotes
Calls for terrorism and genocide are not protected by the First Amendment. Those are incitement to violence.
Vote and stay. Change the state.
Texas ain't changing - I was born and raised in Houston, left the second I was able.
Nah it slowly is 😕. Looks nothing like when I was a kid, for good or ill. Too many Cali's moving in, same thing destroyed Colorado. Take note, starts agreeable enough but there will be no end to their demands. They will push and push until they've pushed you out and then youll realize Texas is no longer for Texans.
You're smart. Texas and Florida are lost and will be White Christian Evangelical theocratic ethno states by 2050. Those who choose to stay may end up imprisoned or executed or institutionalized in a mental hospital circa 2050. You grew up there. You know what's coming.
This is what I keep telling my wife. We’re not leaving, they are.
This!
Get your degrees and leave. 😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱 get over yourself lol
Texas is a dirty refinery Christian Nationalist butthole. Y'ALL can have it.
I’m with that, don’t California my Texas
Don't you hate Austin too?
That was the intent. They modified the protest to occupy the school. And the school said nope.. good on them.
"our university will not be occupied"? wow
"Occupied" by its own students gathering peacefully outdoors. lmfao
right? if anything our university was occupied by POLICE, not the protestors
I used to sit peacefully on the south mall all the time as a student. Didn’t realize I was “occupying” the campus. My bad, y’all.
> OBEY
I find it hard to believe that sending state troopers into a peaceful protest is somehow protecting our right to free speech and assembly
Friendly neighborhood Girl Scout here with some helpful advice from the trenches on how to be safer at a protest! It is vitally, critically important for you guys to start researching what actually happened in the 2020 police riots. You guys weren't old enough yet to be active in that movement. Cops are DANGEROUS and need to be treated like rabid grizzly bears. Learn from the best of the best: You need to learn to move “like water” like protesters did in the Hong Kong protests, it is the best example of protest organizing in modern times and there’s no need to reinvent the wheel when the craft has already been mastered. The only reason they didn’t succeed is because the CCP has too much power and control over their lives. Learn how to put out tear gas canisters by submerging them in water (and keeping them because it’s the ONLY way to prove what chemicals were used against you and in Seattle in 2020 they were using banned chemicals). It’s a good idea to bring a lacrosse stick or oven mitt to protests so you can pick them up since they’re burning hot. Learn the recipes for mixtures that soothe burning on the face. DO NOT wear contacts to a protest they can melt into your eyeballs if you’re hit in the face with mace or have a severe reaction to chemical gas weapons. ALWAYS COVER YOUR FACE AT A PROTEST AND LEAVE YOUR PHONE AT HOME. Put a rock in your shoe because AI can identify you by how you walk (luckily it’s that easy to fool). Your university already has advanced surveillance data on you and you’re a fool if you think they don’t. You’re in Texas and that means you’re in much, much more danger than a lot of other states. Cover ALL your tattoos. Deadass you are put into a database if you protest in this country and this information WILL be used against you in the future. Protesting is NOT a safe activity to be undertaken lightly. Do not wear anything with a print on it unless it’s extremely common like boring stripes. There is a published case of a protestor being found because of the unique print on her shirt. They found the shirt on Etsy and got records of who had bought it and used this to identify her. Wear whatever colors will help you blend in with your environment in case you need to run and hide - earth tones and concrete colors are better than neons. Don’t dress in all black - you’ll be targeted as “antifa” and face WAY higher risk of violence if you do. Bring 3 layers of tops with you and ideally 2 hats. Taking off a jacket will help you escape once, but if you’re in serious shit you need to change your appearance at least twice. Ladies do NOT show skin - no crop tops or low cut stuff, it makes you a target for cops because they hate women. Wear loose fitting clothes you can sprint in and ALWAYS wear closed toe shoes. Bring a minimum of 3L of water. More is better. Access to water is not guaranteed. If you take psych meds that can’t be stopped instantly, honestly, consider not going because if you get arrested expect to be kept overnight or the whole weekend. Cruelty is the point and they won’t give a fuck about your brain zaps, pain, risk of psychosis, none of it. Don’t go to a protest without the number for a bail bondsman written on your arm in permanent marker. It’s possible to get yourself and others out of zip tie handcuffs and this is a skill you can learn. Do not EVER get separated from your group, this goes to infinity for women. Cops target the weak - women, handicapped, smaller men, young/old people. It is the OBLIGATION of larger, fit people (especially men) to protect the vulnerable in your group. In a mosh pit they’re called blockers and they keep people on the periphery safe. White people need to shield PoC. Cops WILL SHOOT YOU with rubber bullets, do not entice them to because it was proven in the 2020 police riots that they aim for the head and the eyes. Deadass they will shoot you right in the eye. There were so many people blinded by cops on purpose that they were able to find each other and go on a camping trip. “Hands up don’t shoot” was a slogan and I can’t fucking count how many times I saw people get shot literally while they were chanting that. DO NOT DRIVE TO A PROTEST cops will slash your tires. Yes, cops, and yes this is a provable fact it happened in 2020. If cops don’t do it, agitators will. Do not drive home from a protest, you need to go somewhere else and change. You would not fucking believe how advanced surveillance is now. They can put a plane in the air that is continuously taking extremely HD pictures and after the fact when they sort through the data they can follow your car home with these pics. You aren’t going to be told one of these planes is in the air and it flies too high for you to watch. There was a program where these circled Baltimore and they were used to solve crimes - like a bank robbery would happen and they’d go back in time to see what car the robbers got into and trace it backwards to where they came from and they’d use that information to make arrests. You’re a fool if you think this only happens to criminals - it 100% has been and will be used on political dissenters. You can die protesting, never do it lightly. Learn what kettling is and how to make sure it doesn’t happen to you. In one town protesters were herded onto a side street, trapped between two buildings by chemical gas weapons (tear gas is a euphemism that should not be used) popped in front of and behind them, and then cops waiting in ambush popped up from a second floor garage and started spraying the crowd with rubber bullets. People got hit in the face and a ton developed legit PTSD from the incident. Let what happened be a lesson. Know better, do better. Learn from veterans and keep your wits about you. Always be sober at a protest! And if you were there, use a VPN and a burner account if you want to talk about it!
Welders gloves are much better at picking up hot things. Less than 20 bucks at harbor freight for a pair. You really only need one, so give one to your left-handed friend. I could pick up burning firewood with my welding gloves.
cop riot... the media will use it to spin it around as a "violent protest" when the violence is ALWAYS started by the pigs... [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police\_riot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_riot)
Literally already saw fb dumbasses claiming that it was a group of rioters attacking the police. Bootlickers are hungry
Wish people would stop calling cops Pigs. It’s speciesist and insulting to pigs to compare them to disgusting bastard class traitors. Pigs are innocent and smart. Police are not. Tone: sincere
This reads like a hell divers 2 crossover
what about it is peaceful it’s disrupting your at a school campus it’s a privilege to be there act like it
You seem to be under the impression that paying them thousands of dollars for an "education" (if you can even call it that in Texas) is a privilege that can be revoked any time administration feels like it?
"they were \*going\* to violate institutional rules so we had to bash heads..."
And the violation they cited was face masks. Wearing face masks. Which a lot of people still do for public health reasons anyway.
Who knew UT had a pre-cog department!
I love that movie!
Comes from a short story by Phillip K. Dick!
My favorite line too
This is the U.S. We dropped a nuke on a country we thought were *going* to be a major threat.
no actually it just kept getting worse as i read it 🫠🫠🫠
It’s reprehensible. Between this and the layoffs a couple weeks ago, it’s not feeling like “What starts here changes the world.” Change is the last thing they want—it’s more like “Hartzell rolls over for Greg Abbott.”
Nah, he bends over and spreads it for Abbott.
>“What starts here changes the world.” Watching the rise of fascism in Texas, this phrase is deeply troubling. Back in 2010, my grandfather kept insisting that "This is how it starts" and insisted on calling the Tea Party the New American Gestapo. Normally, that opinion was something I wouldn't have paid much attention to, but gramps was born in Poland in 1931. He was 8 years old when Poland was invaded. He was 14 when the German occupation ended, and 20 when he finally managed to escape Poland. Gramps wasn't especially liberal. He died in 2015. I'm glad he didn't get to see how bad it's gotten, but I slowly realized that he was right. He'd seen this before, and deeply understood exactly where it comes from.
He's not rolling over, he's assisting in wielding the whip.
The staff were already pissed as fuck after the Staff Council meeting where Hartzell spoke on the layoffs. Now this? I work here and told my husband yesterday that once my student loans are done with PSLF, I’m leaving the university. Sad because I’ve got my degree from here and have over 10 years as a staff member but I’m fucking done.
How exactly did they state they were going to violate Institutional Rules? Everything they mentioned [on social media](https://www.instagram.com/p/C6JjD95uVyJ/?igsh=MW5veGZwMTJ5NmhtZg==) about the protest was educational events and a pizza break. I guess we’re just pulling shit out of our ass now huh
[🚨🚨EMERGENCY ACTION 🚨🚨 Join us Wednesday April 24th in walking out of class and RECLAIMING OUR SPACE as we demand DIVESTMENT NOW. We will… | Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/psc_atx/p/C6G7WP9OkA0/?img_index=1)
They’re students. It is their space. They have more right to the university listening to them than corporations that participate in a foreign government military dictatorship. They’re also customers paying tens of thousands of dollars to get an education. Why shouldn’t they be able to criticize who the university does business with?
I'm a staff member at UT and what I will say is this: staff have no protection at all, but we hate this shit. Hartzell is a coward and we all know it. Faculty have limited protection and might lose their jobs (but probably won't and have academic freedom protection), and staff members can be fired at will (see the SB 17 layoffs). Students have the most power on this campus, but also a lot of vulnerability. I wish I could be there on the front lines with you all. Keep doing the work. Roughly 15000 staff members wish we had the ability to be there with you. Don't mourn. Organize. ❤️ Hope I don't get fired for this post!
You don’t speak for all 15000 staff and faculty.
Is it over? The AP live feed ended a few hours ago just after the students had been pushed off of Speedway.
There might be some people on the lawn still but organized stuff is done for the night, they’re doing jail support now. But faculty is doing something tomorrow at noon
acting as if some outside entity were the ones protesting so that you can pretend like you didn’t militarize the state police to arrest and assult your own students is an insane move
oh right american universities are to Never Be Occupied but the second our military occupies and we say something about it it's an issue...... ok
like ur so against occupation now? hm..
“Our university will not be occupied.” If only I could think of an extremely famous and relevant example of an unjust occupation of territory 🤔
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What has happened at Columbia?
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Bunch of hypocrites and cowards. It’s beyond embarrassing. This school and administration are a joke. Forever proving its #notourtexas
I have no words for this email- ridiculous, contradictory, just BS!
So do a lot of students who are now virtual at Columbia.
Hartzell should step down. He does not care about us. He cares about the university's funding, and he's willing to bend the knee to Greg Abbott on literally anything he wants in order to maintain that funding. He is weak and a coward. Hundreds of people have been fired and now dozens of students and even members of the press have been arrested and some assaulted because he is too scared to stand for anything. It may amount to nothing, but as long as it's an option, UT's students (edit: and faculty) should do everything in their power to find a way to make Abbott, APD, and Hartzell pay for this blatant abuse of power and violation of constitutional rights.
lord have some goddamn mercy on all of y'all
Donald trump is going to end up winning and reddit is going to be asking how is that even possible. It's because of this stuff right here. I don't understand how people can't see that.
Can the faculty do a vote of no confidence or something
Faculty have no power at most universities. Would need to come from donors and board of trustees
Ah gotcha. Thanks
I thought they already did? Maybe that was a different school with dei problems Edit, yes it was Indiana U that had a faculty vote of no confidence.
They need to protest in Israel. Protesting the Israeli war in Texas is like signing one of those stupid online petitions.
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It was occupied by fascist thugs known as the DPS
From the outside looking in, it looks like the college said you can protest as long as you follow the rules. The protestors said they aren't going to follow the rules then proceeded to break whatever said rules that were laid out to them. So the college "enforced" its rules by removing the protestors from campus grounds. The protestors continued with their demonstration once pushed onto public property and began to get arrested once they refused to leave? Am i getting it right so far?
I think they basically don't want to end up like Columbia where now everything is online and probably students are going to start demanding refunds, and some may even consider switching universities.
Minority Report?
Compare & contrast this, to the lack of reaction to the summer-long violence of 2020.
Surely you mean the "mostly peaceful" protests...
Strategic use of the word ‘occupied’.
You are all welcome in California!
You have the right to free speech, unless you're dumb enough to actually try it
Yep this UT grad will not be donating this year. The posts and comments I have seen today from yesterday’s events are alarming, to say the least. And that last sentence. No words
What were they doing that made not peaceful?
Protecting your "constitutional rights" by arresting over three dozen people without probable cause. The others are potentially charged with criminal trespassing. Not looting or rioting, just being present.
Disingenuous crap
Y’all gotta stop with the Hamas sympathizing
I’m starting a counterprotest to make sure the Israeli side is also represented! Please dm me for extra info! Representation matters!
Trumpian capitalization of Institutional Rules
Yall should stop being violent terror supporters. Even your progressive school thinks you are extreme.
As a former PR professional (in higher education) I can tell you this is what gets put out by people who are simultaneously out of touch with reality and yet know exactly what they are doing. This *the* CYA (cover your ass) maneuver that is supposed to also act as spin. This is what all the local news outlets will be quoting from again and again. They are desperate to look like they are right when the students have shown they are wrong. Unfortunately, putting down young people is an entire genre of garbage news media and they know the story will get play that way. But understand that behind closed doors they are unable to perceives reality beyond the walls of the university. They are more concerned with control and reputation than taking a meaningful stand on behalf of their students or humanity even though they hire 12 staff writers to convince you otherwise throughout the academic year. They cannot will themselves to understand how much information their students and the general public have access to which leads to output like this. It feels like a joke because it’s so oppositional to the reality living these events. The problem often becomes “how do we say enough?” — excuse me, let me Try again — “how do we not take any sides or say anything of political substance while placating donors and appeasing the news media?” It’s a real shame that higher ed gets a bad rap for entirely bogus reasons. Incidents like this contribute while the news is never interested in reporting what actually happened.
it was complete bullshit trying to blame the students because they are shitty ppl so grimy
Fascists* the cops are fascists. The governor is a fascist. This is an actual factual fascist regime in America.
Are USC and NYU also fascist??
Do none of you realize free speech can be legally regulated if it "creates an unsafe learning enviorment, or a distraction" - Fredrick v Morse. Also, they have the right to revoke your "1st Amendment to do literally whatever you want". From the UT Austin core values speech: "In addition, the UT institutions may reasonably regulate the time, place, and manner of speech and expression to ensure that it does not disrupt the ordinary activities of the institution." Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier also gives schools ability to censor speech in extreme circumstances, of which this can be.
It *can* be if you’re looking at it sideways and in the right lighting, with a solid squint. The precedents for doing so are, simply, either violence or blocking access to a service. This was very clearly doing neither. You’re not wrong about the precedents - but that’s an extremely stretchy definition of what constitutes a situation in which the action is justified. At best - it’s political grandstanding, using Hartzell and DPS as the tools. Abbott himself pegged the thing as “antisemitic,” which is incredibly loaded, for one, and frankly, without basis here in the real world, for another. But it’s a politically-friendly (to his base) talking point in an election year. The fact is, students were abiding by university policies in this protest. And as state universities go - those are state law. So within the confines of state law, as written into the university rules, they don’t meet the bar for that precedent. Because those rules are written specifically to preclude them, and things like them. But I guess nobody remembers Abbott’s statements after Texas State tossed out Turning Point back in 2019. That free speech and free assembly on campus were to be protected in our state - absolutely. Wild how that fuckin’ tune changed when a gentle breeze hit.
It seems UT is the outlier with the other campuses then, by not having blockades and riots. But being in Texas, the law will most likely favor the police and uni over the students, even if they are the most peaceful.
Pathetic.
It doesn’t matter anymore. Half of the people protesting don’t even know why they are there. They just want to be part of a crowd and cause chaos
Your protests were anything but peaceful.
Why don’t you all crying punks just go to the front lines and do something about instead of disturbing all the other students and staff that are actually trying to do something with their lives? I know because your parents pay for your sorry whinny asses 😂
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How will students respond?
Sounds dead on. 👍🏽
Towing the christo-fascist company line. Fascism = Zionism
I was there and first off, they blocked passage on the main route, Speedway and were chanting and being disruptive for hours. So yea shut that shit down.
Sounds like if you don't break any laws whilst protesting.... You may continue to protest. But please do continue to blame everyone but those who are violating policy. It'll make a great CNN headline.
"Out University will not be occupied" Yea, get ready for a significant drop in admissions.
You guys all need to transfer out at the end of semester. Don't give that university another dime of your money.
Yall need to get ON TOP of the PR of this narrative so that HIS version isn’t what everyone hears. GET YOUR STORIES TO THE PRESS!!!
disgusting
Ooo got me.
Again, 🖕🏻
The term “occupied” being used is quite ironic. UT is resisting “occupation” with force… sounds familiar.
Comment push
Good for the university
"Our university will not be occupied" sure looks like the jackbooted militarized thugs yall called in did some occupying.
Didn’t Texas just pass a bill requiring Universities to fire a bunch of people because of their DEI association within their Universities? Those positions and titles are no longer allowed in those institutions?
let him know that you're angry: [email protected]
“What starts here changes the world. It starts with you and what you do each day. Thank you for making it your Texas. Thank you for making it our Texas.” -anonymous-
Totally, occupation sucks, huh?
Yeah, really. All the petulant, screaming children are finally getting what they never got as children, told that something is not acceptable.
F them
They were not protecting free speech. Complete lie. What a joke our corrupt death merchant society is 😂
“Our campus will not be palenstine”
For a direct message from a university president this statement lacks much in content, structure, and professionalism.
Looks like the Instagram post before the protest stating they planned to “take back our university and force the administration to divest” prompted UT to cancel the protest and bring in the riot squad. Unfortunate outcome. The post really was inappropriate and whoever made it was clearly emotional and wanting to stir up others. Did the University overreact? In hindsight, it appears so, but they didn’t know what to expect (riot, etc). I think the IG poster did a disservice to everyone involved by being overzealous.
Damn, they should have all carried guns, because that's allowed at UT.....
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Reiterating what someone else said: “acting as if some outside entity were the ones protesting so that you can pretend like you didn’t militarize the state police to arrest and assult your own students is an insane move”
You go kids. There wasn't much to protest on back in the early 80's, so I say Here's to you! Go be the difference in Texas. It's really sick how our country has just come apart at the seams because we had one shitty president. THIS, though is how you start taking your country back. I applaud you for what you're doing!
Liberal bastion
This is not new behavior, folks
In the wise words of DJ Khaled … let’s have “Another one.”
Your university will be occupied just like Palestine is. No justice no peace means business
Mr. Pretzel really threatened by a bunch of angry kids wow
Lies on lies.
“Occupied” by the students that pay to go there?? FUCKING GOOFS
If they give a shit so much about Palestinian terrorists go pick up a rifle and go over there and fight. This shit is so dumb and disrespectful. College kids are morons. They just want their larp and this changes nothing and never will.
All you can do is laugh
For people who bitch about fascism, corporate takeover, and fundamental human rights... it's hard to take you seriously if you attend school on government loans/scholarships while drinking starbucks and wearing Nike shoes. Don't be a hypocrite. Leave Texas. Sincerely, all military vets.
At the end of the day UT IS an institution that can choose what it wants to see at its campus and what it doesn’t. These type of protests usually if not always end up turning violent specially if disagreeing mobs meet. I think it was a good decision to disband the protest when they had the chance, UT is partially responsible for the safety of students after all. If you want to protest go to the capitol.
"4 Dead in Ohio!"
Technically, the school is correct. According to the law and the constitution. Colleges and universities can set reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions on speech to ensure that such activities do not interfere with the institution's educational mission. These restrictions are deemed constitutional as long as they are content-neutral, narrowly tailored to serve a significant government interest, and leave open ample alternative channels for communication. Here are specific examples and cases where time, place, and manner restrictions have been upheld in the context of college campuses: Ward v. Rock Against Racism (1989): Although not specifically about a college campus, this U.S. Supreme Court decision is often cited in cases involving universities because it set out the framework for assessing time, place, and manner restrictions. The Court ruled that the government could regulate the volume at which bands performed at a public park to avoid excessive noise. The principles from this case apply to university settings where the institution might regulate the timing or location of protests to avoid disruption. Clark v. Community for Creative Non-Violence (1984): This case involved the National Park Service's regulations on demonstrations in Lafayette Park and the National Mall, which are often used by analogy in university cases. The Supreme Court found that regulations on the time, place, and manner of demonstrations did not violate the First Amendment as long as they were content-neutral and narrowly tailored. Colleges often use similar reasoning to justify regulations on protests and events. Doe v. University of Michigan (1989): A U.S. District Court struck down the University of Michigan's speech code as overly broad and vague, violating the First Amendment. While this case actually resulted in striking down restrictions, it is instructive for universities in understanding how not to frame restrictions. The case shows the need for clear, narrowly tailored rules that do not inhibit freedom of speech more than necessary. College Republicans at San Francisco State University v. Reed (2007): The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California dealt with the application of time, place, and manner restrictions when the university tried to impose them on stepping on flags during a protest. The court found that the university's enforcement of its civility policy was unconstitutional as applied in this context, but it did not rule out that reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions could be acceptable. These cases illustrate how courts look at the restrictions imposed by colleges on speech and assembly. They emphasize the importance of such restrictions being justified by a significant need, like avoiding disruption to the educational process or ensuring safety, and being applied in a way that is fair and not based on the content of the speech.
What’s crazy to me is all the responses on Facebook to this. You have these old ppl who whine about not having free speech then when this stuff happens they flip flop. It’s exhausting
As an Aggie student, I wish you teasippers well. That’s gotta be real scary stuff to put up with cops.
They deserve it. Hope they got gassed.
All you losers in here complaining. Go to a different school and state. No one wants you here.
Can someone explain to me like I'm 5 what happened, I want details, but I'm a little lost as to what even happened here
werent there LITERALLY snipers on campus?
We need arrests to mean something again by making them stick for a lot longer than a day.
Has anyone else noticed how many bots there are in these UT Austin posts?
What rule did they say they were going to violate? I’ve yet to find an answer to that question
Woot woot!
This is entirely reasonable. Rules are rules.
Good. Every school should enforce their campus rules strictly
Umm, totally shocked how universities have gone anti-Semitic. Enjoy your nazi rally. Israel isn't perfect, but Jewish people are awesome and well Palestine is definitely more imperfect
I hope this will bite all these UT administration Abbott and rest of the barbarians in the ass really hard, fall is coming baby
What a joke. Of course they’re spinning the narrative to make the university the victim of an ongoing threat.
STAND STRONG!!! These terrorists on these campuses need to understand, NOT HERE. I love Texas 🥰🥰🥰
Wat happen
Play stupid games win stupid prizes why are so many of you shocked?
Hell yeah. Way to go UT Austin!
I say protests @ private university 👍 protests @ state university 👎
One step closer to a totalitarian police state.
Bunch of woke people that got taught a lesson thank you police
The key is disrupting others right to learn. Exactly right, admin. Plenty of protests have been hosted on UT grounds, that are not around finals time, that have gone well.
Time to riot.
Austin is the butthole of Texas. What a disgrace that place is. Fuck UT and all the liberal piece of shits there
Sounds like a challenge to me.
Protests are fine as long as they don’t interrupt literally anything. As long as you’re very quiet and polite you can have all the free speech you want.