Columbia University: Minutemen Protestors Rush Stage, Gilchrist's Speech Cut Short by Ensuing Brawl
Minutemen Protestors Rush Stage
Gilchrist's Speech Cut Short by Ensuing Brawl
By Laura Brunts
Issue date: 10/5/06 Section: News
http://www.columbiaspectator.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticle&uStory_id=3dfd9fdd-3623-418d-8b69-d47d479b1ab9
Protestors took the stage minutes after Jim Gilchrist, founder of the
Minuteman Project, came to the microphone in Roone Arledge Auditorium
Wednesday night, sparking a chaotic brawl involving more than 20 students,
other attendees, and guests.
Two students in the International Socialist Organization unfurled a yellow
banner reading, "No one is illegal!" which prompted other protestors to
rush the stage. Gilchrist supporters then clamored on stage while the
speakers were ushered out of the auditorium.
"We were aware that there was going to be a sign and we were going to
occupy the stage," said a protestor who was on stage and asked to remain
anonymous. "I don't feel like we need to apologize or anything. It was
fundamentally a part of free speech. ... The Minutemen are not a
legitimate part of the debate on immigration."
Columbia security officers and presidential delegates, University
employees who regulate events, broke up the brawl and closed the curtains,
forcing 350 attendees to leave the auditorium and eventually the building.
The Columbia University College Republicans hosted Gilchrist and two other
speakers from the Minutemen, a vigilante group that patrols the
U.S.-Mexico border for illegal immigrants.
No one was arrested and University spokesman Robert Hornsby said that he
could not discuss the consequences for those involved because the
investigation is ongoing. Immediately following the event, Hornsby said
that students would be dealt with under Dean's Discipline, but the
response for those from outside Columbia was still undetermined.
"The specific facts surrounding the incident are under active
investigation by the University, so it is premature to make any official
statement regarding facts that are yet to be determined," Hornsby told
Spectator last night. There were dozens of video and digital cameras in
the room, and much of this footage belongs to Columbia groups, but Hornsby
would not say whether this footage would factor into the investigation.
The brawl was the culmination of audience dissent which grew louder and
more aggressive.
Marvin Stewart, an ordained minister and member of the Minutemen board of
directors, was the first speaker. Audience members shouted interjections
throughout his address, calling Stewart, who is black, a hypocrite for
supporting the Minutemen. Stewart responded by becoming louder and telling
the audience that they did not know anything about government.
During a long pause, one audience member shouted, "In Spanish please!"
which brought on an enormous wave of stomping feet and applause from the
audience. Stewart countered that "one of the requirements of citizenship
is that you speak English," before he was completely drowned out by the
noise of the audience. Many attendees stood up and turned their backs on
the speaker in protest and began chanting "wrap it up."
Eventually Gilchrist and Chris Kulawik, CC '08, president of the College
Republicans and a Spectator columnist, called Stewart off the stage. "I
clearly had the false assumption that I was at an Ivy League school,"
Kulawik said as he introduced the main speaker.
"Who's a racist now?" said Gilchrist, putting an arm around Stewart."I
love the first amendment!" he shouted. "You're doing a great job, kids.
I'm going to have more fun with this than with my prepared speech."
But before he could get much farther, two students stepped on stage with a
banner. Student protestors said that the demonstration was meant to be
peaceful, but when students with the Republicans and other Gilchrist
supporters came on stage, the confrontation turned violent. One student
was kicked in the head and bleeding, students reported.
The protestors occupying the stage included members of the ISO, the
Chicano Caucus-which organized a protest beforehand on the Broadway
sidewalk outside Lerner Hall-and some unaffiliated with either group.
Neither student group officially sanctioned rushing the stage.
"We don't condone the actions of members on either side. Either people on
stage who were holding up signs, or people who felt that their speaker was
being threatened by people holding signs," said Adhemir Romero, CC '07 and
president of the Chicano Caucus.
Romero released a statement late Wednesdy from the executive board of the
Caucus. "We feel that it is important to discuss and bring to light
important issues concerning immigration, though they should be done in a
peaceful manner," it said. "While we do not agree with Mr. Gilchrist and
his organization's views, we respect everyone's right to freedom of speech
and regret that his opinion was not heard."
"I think this demonstrated the immaturity of the protestors," Kulawik said
afterwards. "It came to physical violence and rushing the stage, which is
never appropriate."
The protest that the Caucus originally organized occurred outside Lerner
largely as planned. The event was publicized through the Internet and
activist networks, and about 200 protestors, both students and others,
came from all over New York to participate.
"I wish that it was larger and I wish we could have a larger impact right
away," Xiomara Maldonado, BC '08 and member of the Barnard group Mujeres,
said of the protest. "Clearly, it [the protestors] is a very diverse
group. It's not just Latinos, it's not just people of color."
The violent clash between supporters and protestors at Wednesday night's
event was much more than Kulawik expected, he said. He called the
invitation of former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft last year "tame"
in comparison.
Even though Columbia Public Safety significantly increased its security
for Wednesday night's event after the sidewalk protest was announced,
Kulawik said, the security for the Ashcroft speech was much higher.
During the Ashcroft event, Secret Service agents secured Lerner Hall while
the NYPD deployed a contingent of dozens of officers, including an
Assistant Chief, the third-highest rank in the force. At yesterday's
protest, fewer than a dozen officers from the 26th precinct were present.
Deputy Inspector Mike Cassidy said there was nothing unusual about the
demonstration outside Lerner and that these protestors were very
cooperative.
Joanna Bernstein, Kate Linthicum, and Eleazar David Meléndez contributed
to this article.
Gilchrist's Speech Cut Short by Ensuing Brawl
By Laura Brunts
Issue date: 10/5/06 Section: News
http://www.columbiaspectator.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticle&uStory_id=3dfd9fdd-3623-418d-8b69-d47d479b1ab9
Protestors took the stage minutes after Jim Gilchrist, founder of the
Minuteman Project, came to the microphone in Roone Arledge Auditorium
Wednesday night, sparking a chaotic brawl involving more than 20 students,
other attendees, and guests.
Two students in the International Socialist Organization unfurled a yellow
banner reading, "No one is illegal!" which prompted other protestors to
rush the stage. Gilchrist supporters then clamored on stage while the
speakers were ushered out of the auditorium.
"We were aware that there was going to be a sign and we were going to
occupy the stage," said a protestor who was on stage and asked to remain
anonymous. "I don't feel like we need to apologize or anything. It was
fundamentally a part of free speech. ... The Minutemen are not a
legitimate part of the debate on immigration."
Columbia security officers and presidential delegates, University
employees who regulate events, broke up the brawl and closed the curtains,
forcing 350 attendees to leave the auditorium and eventually the building.
The Columbia University College Republicans hosted Gilchrist and two other
speakers from the Minutemen, a vigilante group that patrols the
U.S.-Mexico border for illegal immigrants.
No one was arrested and University spokesman Robert Hornsby said that he
could not discuss the consequences for those involved because the
investigation is ongoing. Immediately following the event, Hornsby said
that students would be dealt with under Dean's Discipline, but the
response for those from outside Columbia was still undetermined.
"The specific facts surrounding the incident are under active
investigation by the University, so it is premature to make any official
statement regarding facts that are yet to be determined," Hornsby told
Spectator last night. There were dozens of video and digital cameras in
the room, and much of this footage belongs to Columbia groups, but Hornsby
would not say whether this footage would factor into the investigation.
The brawl was the culmination of audience dissent which grew louder and
more aggressive.
Marvin Stewart, an ordained minister and member of the Minutemen board of
directors, was the first speaker. Audience members shouted interjections
throughout his address, calling Stewart, who is black, a hypocrite for
supporting the Minutemen. Stewart responded by becoming louder and telling
the audience that they did not know anything about government.
During a long pause, one audience member shouted, "In Spanish please!"
which brought on an enormous wave of stomping feet and applause from the
audience. Stewart countered that "one of the requirements of citizenship
is that you speak English," before he was completely drowned out by the
noise of the audience. Many attendees stood up and turned their backs on
the speaker in protest and began chanting "wrap it up."
Eventually Gilchrist and Chris Kulawik, CC '08, president of the College
Republicans and a Spectator columnist, called Stewart off the stage. "I
clearly had the false assumption that I was at an Ivy League school,"
Kulawik said as he introduced the main speaker.
"Who's a racist now?" said Gilchrist, putting an arm around Stewart."I
love the first amendment!" he shouted. "You're doing a great job, kids.
I'm going to have more fun with this than with my prepared speech."
But before he could get much farther, two students stepped on stage with a
banner. Student protestors said that the demonstration was meant to be
peaceful, but when students with the Republicans and other Gilchrist
supporters came on stage, the confrontation turned violent. One student
was kicked in the head and bleeding, students reported.
The protestors occupying the stage included members of the ISO, the
Chicano Caucus-which organized a protest beforehand on the Broadway
sidewalk outside Lerner Hall-and some unaffiliated with either group.
Neither student group officially sanctioned rushing the stage.
"We don't condone the actions of members on either side. Either people on
stage who were holding up signs, or people who felt that their speaker was
being threatened by people holding signs," said Adhemir Romero, CC '07 and
president of the Chicano Caucus.
Romero released a statement late Wednesdy from the executive board of the
Caucus. "We feel that it is important to discuss and bring to light
important issues concerning immigration, though they should be done in a
peaceful manner," it said. "While we do not agree with Mr. Gilchrist and
his organization's views, we respect everyone's right to freedom of speech
and regret that his opinion was not heard."
"I think this demonstrated the immaturity of the protestors," Kulawik said
afterwards. "It came to physical violence and rushing the stage, which is
never appropriate."
The protest that the Caucus originally organized occurred outside Lerner
largely as planned. The event was publicized through the Internet and
activist networks, and about 200 protestors, both students and others,
came from all over New York to participate.
"I wish that it was larger and I wish we could have a larger impact right
away," Xiomara Maldonado, BC '08 and member of the Barnard group Mujeres,
said of the protest. "Clearly, it [the protestors] is a very diverse
group. It's not just Latinos, it's not just people of color."
The violent clash between supporters and protestors at Wednesday night's
event was much more than Kulawik expected, he said. He called the
invitation of former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft last year "tame"
in comparison.
Even though Columbia Public Safety significantly increased its security
for Wednesday night's event after the sidewalk protest was announced,
Kulawik said, the security for the Ashcroft speech was much higher.
During the Ashcroft event, Secret Service agents secured Lerner Hall while
the NYPD deployed a contingent of dozens of officers, including an
Assistant Chief, the third-highest rank in the force. At yesterday's
protest, fewer than a dozen officers from the 26th precinct were present.
Deputy Inspector Mike Cassidy said there was nothing unusual about the
demonstration outside Lerner and that these protestors were very
cooperative.
Joanna Bernstein, Kate Linthicum, and Eleazar David Meléndez contributed
to this article.
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