We Don't Need Warrior Cops Policing Campus Protests

[Celerity]

Heavily armed and armored officers cracking down on pro-Palestinian protests is unnecessary, dangerous, and sets a terrible precedent.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/we-dont-need-warrior-cops-policing-campus-protests



“Rather than muzzle students, we should allow them to hear and be heard,” New York Times columnist Pamela Paul wrote recently. “It’s worth remembering how children once responded to schoolyard epithets: ‘Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never harm me.’ Narrow restrictions on putatively harmful speech leave young people distracted from and ill-prepared for the actual violence they’ll encounter in the real world.” It's good advice. Unfortunately, I've misled you. That’s actually a Pamela Paul column from Feb. 2023.

Here's what she wrote in response to the pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University: “t’s a rare pleasure to get a chance to applaud the president of a university, in this case Minouche Shafik of Columbia, who on Thursday called in the police to remove student protesters who have camped out on campus in violation of university policy… with the authority at her disposal and with the courage that too many academic leaders have lacked, Shafik did what any responsible adult should do in her position: She ordered the police to clear Columbia’s campus of the students seemingly unaware of how lucky they are to attend one of the nation’s top universities.”

The Columbia protesters had barely set up their tents before U.S. senators like Tom Cotton and Josh Hawley were demanding intervention from the National Guard. Since then, House Speaker Mike Johnson dismissed the protesters' rights by pointing out they had been “endorsed by Hamas,” a curious “speech endorsed by bad people isn’t free” exception to the First Amendment that Republicans’ own antisemitic supporters might find surprising.



Numerous Republican office holders have since described the protests as “pro-Hamas,” falsely called them “rioters” and “terrorists” and made evidence-free claims about violence inflicted on Jewish students. All of that has been alarming, but not surprising. Republicans and the MAGA right have been openly baying for and celebrating violence against protesters for years—all while excusing their own violent protesters as patriots and martyrs. What’s different this time is that MAGA world has been joined by centrist pundits and more than a few prominent Democrats in calling for police dressed for battle to squash student demonstrations against an unpopular war.

snip

[JohnSJ]

1. I don't care what the republicans are saying, the protesters crossed a line when they took over a building, threaten

workers inside that building, and committed numerous acts of vandalism.

Once they crossed that line, they lost message they were trying to convey, and now those republicans are using this as part of their campaign against Biden, portraying him as weak. It is the same theme they used with the stupid "defund the police" slogan in 2020.

Will this affect the election? Quite possibly.

[Happy Hoosier]

2. I agree, but we also don't need "protesters" occupying spaces and spouting terrorist propoganda.

Their right to protest ends at harrassment, destruction of property, and threats.

If they refuse to disperse peacefully once they are informed they are in violation of University policy or the law, what are officials supposed to do? Just cede the space? We apparently already had UCLA officials allowing pass-in and pass-outs of "protesters" and restricting access to the space to others.... others who paid for a University education and now are being told by other students where they can and cannot go. That is unacceptable.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

3. I mean...We don't need warrior cops at all

[leftstreet]

11. +1

[csziggy]

18. Mentioned on MSNBC - NY cops were trained by the IDF

IDF = Israeli Defense Force. It was mentioned sometime in the last couple of days. I don't remember who or when - or if it is true. If true, that might give an anti-Palestinian bias to the cops.

Sources supporting this:
https://www.amnestyusa.org/updates/with-whom-are-many-u-s-police-departments-training-with-a-chronic-human-rights-violator-israel/
https://documentedny.com/2018/09/12/report-criticizes-nypd-collaboration-with-israel/
https://progressive.org/latest/us-police-trained-by-israel-communities-of-color-paying-price-shahshahani-cohen-191007/
https://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/2022/03/17/revealed-adl-us-israel-police-exchanges/

[Scrivener7]

27. Not sure what the point of that observation is, but the NYPD did a good job at Columbia.

They went in calmly, didn't get violent and were well prepared. That, coupled with the fact the protestors surrendered calmly, meant there were no scenes like those in the OP at the Columbia protest.

[justaprogressive]

4. We took over the administration buildings for apartheid

Last edited Thu May 2, 2024, 09:51 AM - Edit history (1)

We damaged some property broke some windows. The college divested.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" ~Santayana

[David__77]

17. Fighting racist apartheid was and is commendable.

[DownriverDem]

5. They aren't

all students. That's the problem.

[Nutty Putty]

9. How is that a problem?

The more the better. We need EVERYONE to fight this genocide being perpetrated on the Palestinians by Israel.

[R Merm]

6. We also don't need professors blocking students from attending classes

[sybylla]

20. LOL!

It's called a P-R-O-T-E-S-T.

Not picnic in the park.

[ripcord]

21. Not according to President Biden

"Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations — none of this is a peaceful protest," the president said from the White House's Roosevelt Room. "Threatening people, intimidating people, instilling fear in people is not a peaceful protest. It's against the law. Dissent is essential to democracy, but dissent must never lead to disorder or to denying the rights of others so students can finish the semester and their college education."

[rollin74]

23. does the same apply to anti-abortion activists blocking access to clinics?

should that be ignored/tolerated by the authorities?

because it’s a “protest” not a walk in the park

[hadEnuf]

7. This is just a drop in the bucket compared to what donnie has planned for "protesters".

[Nutty Putty]

10. Sad, but true

DU has had a fractured membership for years....likely due to this "big tent" nonsense.

[John Shaft]

13. certainly is an eye-opener

bootlicking.

[Oopsie Daisy]

12. A strong argument could be made that we do.

Especially after the violence and destruction that we have seen in recent days. Some very bad decisions have been made

[haele]

14. Laz was at a Joint Air Force Base in England during the 1980's.

There were constant "No Nukes" and a few Anti-American meddling protests around the base while he was there. Sometimes there were 10's of protesters, sometimes there were hundreds.
The local police handled it by always having two officers near the gates who introduced themselves to any newcomer protesters, outlined the rules (no hands on people, no property destruction, no blocking roads completely, no throwing things, you can swear or chant all you want...), and kept an eye out for instigators.
They kept the protesters away from the American Military and vice versa.
Laz says there was only one real fight (almost riot) in the three years when someone threw red paint at a serviceman's brand new white Trans-Am he just had shipped in from the states as he was going through the gate and the guy jumped out of his car and started punching his way through the car to get after the person who chucked the paint.
Police and MPs broke it up pretty quickly, and the guy who threw the paint ended up in jail, not the other protesters. Oh, and the Airman who jumped out of the car also ended up in the base brig for starting a fight.

That's the way to handle student protests.
Not zip ties, tazers, fire hoses, or rubber bullets.

Haele

[Richard D]

15. One thing missing from this conversation . . .

. . . is that part of the pro-hamas protestors (one of their chants: We are Hamas!) is that students, Jewish students, for no reason at all other than antisemitism, are being blocked from being able to attend their classes or even go into the library.

I think this is a very good reason for removing the protestors from campus. That is no longer a peaceful protest.

[Duncan Grant]

22. There are Jewish students among the protesters.

It appears they are there to support a cease-fire, not Hamas.

I do agree that no one (Muslims, Christians, Jews, Buddhist,…) should be harassed or threatened because of their religion. That’s unacceptable.

[Richard D]

24. To protest is a right in this country.

As long as it's peaceful. I don't disagree with that.

[brooklynite]

30. It is a right in this country...

...and control of private property is another one.

[Warpy]

16. Dunno, probably better to have Nixon's militarized police

rather than a bunch of young guys in the National Guard who were trained for war and had no clue what to do about a bunch of loud and disobedient college kids milling around. At least the cops start with the less lethal stuff instead of going right for their guns.

If young folks don't know what I'm talking about, look up Kent State 1970.

[Sogo]

19. Sorry, but that "terrible precedent" was already set during Viet Nam - May 4, 1970....

"Heavily armed and armored officers cracking down on pro-Palestinian protests is unnecessary, dangerous, and sets a terrible precedent."

[LeftInTX]

25. At UCLA Tuesday night, counter protesters attacked the protest camp.

Police were nowhere in sight for two hours. A few protesters were injured. They didn't feel safe.

Early Wednesday night, LAPD tried to break up the protest camp, but were pushed back.

They finally had to call CHP. I was nervous that there would be violence (on both sides) but there wasn't. (A few protesters released fire extinguishers at CHP) CHP was fairly patient. They first removed barricades: Bike rakes, plywood, umbrellas, tents. I'm sure a few protesters resisted arrest, but most seemed compliant. I didn't see manhandling like I did at UT Austin. CHP kept their cool. Their biggest complaint from protesters was, "Where were you last night when we were attacked?"

UCLA could have turned out badly, but it didn't. I feel like LO handled it the best that they could. I wish UT was different, but Abbott is trying to make a statement. I have also seen cops get out of hand at Emory. The NYPD haven't been bad either. However, NYPD tends to get heavy handed when protesters get near the Brooklyn Bridge.

[Celerity]

26. I did a lengthy reply on that in another thread.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=18915346

[brooklynite]

28. Observation: nobody in the first photo is "heavily armed and armored"

Observation: with one apparent exception, there has been no violence in the police actions retaking college campuses.

[sop]

29. There was a tacit understanding between police and student protesters back in the pre-warrior cop days:

When peaceful protesters staged sit-ins and blocked campus building entrances, normally uniformed cops would issue warnings to disperse before carefully picking up and carrying the protesters to waiting police vans to be transported to police stations where they would be arrested, booked and released when bail was made. It was all pretty genteel.

Now The Punisher Police forces can't wait to rush into crowds of protesters and wage war on them. Unless, of course, the protesters are a bunch of heavily-armed Trump followers protesting mask mandates in statehouses across the country.