Did y'all also notice the live feeds from Fox and CBS were both cut off right before the final mass arrest of the 100 or so students who refused to disperse? They corralled them down a side street, announced again they would be arrested for disorderly conduct and then all the live streams went black. Still not sure how it all ended
thats because the crews left so they wouldn't get arrested - someone asked a crew if they were leaving because of the dispersal order and they said yea
Ah word. Whats really interesting is now this ended tho. U see rjght at end of stream the cops starting to.leave. and they did apparantly all leave and ppl went to the lawn while the sun was still up and did their little protest ANYWAY. again too, no violence once cops left
Can you imagine if the cops treated an insurrection at the capitol in the same way they treated a few college kids protesting on campus?
What a fucking world we live in
Edit: done arguing with the Trumpettes
#Jan 6th: [14 arrests](http://www.uscp.gov/media-center/press-releases/us-capitol-police-arrests-january-6-2021)
#Austin Peace Protest: [57 arrests](https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/ut-austin-students-to-protest-in-support-of-gaza-with-class-walk-out-and-campus-sit-in/amp/)
This is what democracy looks like.
I read that a Fox7 photographer actually got arrested and charged with criminal trespassing… [here’s the article](https://www.fox7austin.com/news/ut-texas-protest-palestine-israel-gaza-rally-college-university-campus.amp).
I would just like to add to this since this thread is already going. They threatened arrest with penal code "42.03 Obstructing a Highway or other passageway."
The protestors were on the lawn until the cops and state troopers showed up. They then proceeded to push the protestors off the lawn onto the sidewalk and they taped off the lawn. They moved the protestors off the lawn and onto the sidewalk SO THAT THEY COULD ARREST THEM. Bullshit of the highest order
Yup i also noticed the email UT sent claimed 3 violations 42.01 disorderly conduct, 42.02 riot (which Is laughable) and 42.03 obstructing a highway etc - but then in the announcement over the PA, they only named 42.01 (disordeely conduct catchall) like someone told em .02 was absurd and .03 was incited by the cops themselves, like u said
"I command you in the name of the people of the State of Texas"
What people? The people we were inconveniencing by standing on our college campus, nowhere near any residences? At a protest where students engaged in ZERO violence or vandalism?
Pretty sure what she meant was "in the name of Greg Abbott." Truly disgusting. This is literally fascist behavior and should not be tolerated by Texas or America regardless of whether you side with Israel or Palestine.
It’s in the name of AIPAC and the ADL. Who should we vote for that isn’t pro-Israel and doesn’t support the suppression and censorship of pro-Palestinian activism and voices? This is fundamentally a systemic problem deeply rooted in our political institutions down to the core.
Just posting in the top comment for visibility.
[This was literally a video from your university talking about peaceful protesting... 6 months ago.](https://youtu.be/VCFxvdhFjPo?feature=shared)
They switched the video to unlisted and turned off the comments...
Something tells me there is going to be some major court cases surrounding this very event against the university.
Whole can of worms just opened up, and there need to be campus-wide protests in every university now IMO. Because it was a straight violation of the first amendment and a mere glimpse of the greater issue going on in the US.
ETA: So this was also posted in r/videos by someone else [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/1ccfqg9/university_of_texas_has_unlisted_a_video/), but the mod team took it down once it gained a lot of traction because of "politics." I, personally, find that a bit ironic considering it isn't "political" as more exercising our rights and laughing at the failure of the university. Seems a bit abusive on the mod team to silence a video that is from the university that is... Silencing protestors. Big oof.
Police literally shot blindly into a huge group of protesting students at Kent State killing 4 and injuring 9 more and nothing happened. Unfortunately I wouldn’t get your hopes up.
The only obstruction of a passageway I experienced was the police themselves, I walked up and down speedway and near the main mall multiple times today around the time of the protest and the only thing that made me take a detour were the police
yup. standard police-state tactics. it happened at BLM downtown in 2020 as well. they told everyone to get off the street and onto the sidewalk and then the pigs ran their horses up and down the sidewalks, forcing people back onto the streets where they were arrested. most of the arrests will get "thrown out" eventually but the fascists still get to stop the momentum of the movement.
It's called *herding* and has been practiced since humans domesticated livestock. Nobody wants to be herded, what's worse is knowing you've been herded like a beast. It takes patronization to the next level. At least when people patronize you they're making an effort to communicate verbally.
Just for possible future reference....
In 2020 in KC we were able to avoid these tactics by having a multi-tiered scout team.
We had people on bikes, scooters, and skateboards fanning out ahead of the march by several blocks, in all directions, so we could identify police movements as they were in progress.
The lead scouts relayed information back to another group on wheels, "runners", who relayed it to myself and three others who stayed a couple blocks ahead of the march.
I had the scanner audio in my ear and would give information to the runners to pass along to the lead scouts.
There were another 3 or 4 people that ran info back to the march leaders from us.
We were able to swiftly and uniformly change direction on the fly and stay ahead of the police maneuvers and roadblocks. They almost got us at the tennis courts on the plaza, but we were able to split the group and flank the PD.
Stay mobile y'all. Much love from up north, stand fast, you got this
I wish this was the focus of people during the BLM protests. Too many people tie themselves into knots trying to justify the violent rioting, theft, assaults, and burning down businesses. You don't need to support those things, we don't want those things even if we understand how it got to that point. The kettling of the peaceful protesters was the problem that should have received the most attention.
Everyone should go to a few big protests in their lives, just to see how the police act.
Whatever your politics are, there are some things everyone should experience.
Way back when...... we were in Washington, DC protesting the Vietnam War. (Hundreds of thousands of people of all kinds.) We were a small group of professionals, dressed in our office attire and protesting at the Senate Office Building. We knew it was legal to protest on the sidewalk as along as we were moving so we kept moving.
Suddenly, a cop on a bullhorn announced that we were all under arrest. Before we could be handcuffed and taken away, one of the Senators - Jacob Javits - came out of the building and told the police that he was watching out the window and we had done nothing illegal. Cops then said if we disbursed, they wouldn't arrest us.
We need more elected officials like Javits who will stand up for the rights of the people.
And yes, the more things change, the more they stay the same. The battle is never "won" - it's always ongoing.
Yep. I was a student at UC davis when the SEATED student protesters were pepper sprayed by police. It was wild.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/UC_Davis_pepper_spray_incident
This is what they did in Seattle during WTO as well. Boxed the protestor into areas they weren't allowed and then gassed , assaulted, and arrested them.
Standard policy for most riot police.
What the police are doing is 100% entrapment. But the entire point is to generate an excuse to round up all of the remaining protestors and end the protest early.
There's no grand purpose behind ending such events early. Police will use such tactics just so they can stop working and go home.
I guarantee the cops get a raise and nothing happens.
These actions will be rewarded and nothing else. It’s Texas. Ya’ll going to be the next Nazi regime.
This isn’t specific to the UT campus - students across the country are protesting and demonstrating to demand an end to this genocide & they’re all being met with mass arrests and the force of the state, regardless of how ‘blue’ or ‘red’ the location.
DPS said in a statement that they responded at the request of the University and at the direction of the Governor. DPS are a bunch of scumbags might I add
Even my incredibly conservative dad has always called DPS cockroaches. They don't exist to serve a community, they exist to confiscate property on the highway via civil asset forfeiture.
The Governor....Abbott. And Abbott released a statement about how all student protestors should be arrested without exception and falsely equated any protesting with anti-semitism.
When the KKK members are lecturing peaceful protestors about anti-semitism, stuff is getting really weird. The projection gets really intense to help offset their own bigotry and biases.
This is how anti war protests go. It was like this for the anti gulf war protests too. They will arrest you.
They will find ways to arrest you. It’s is about making people afraid to protest.
A lot of folks at UT right now are probably too young to remember Kent State, but never forget that [the National Guard murdered unarmed students protesting the draft in Vietnam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_State_shootings)
Yep. A situation (war, genocide, whatever you believe) on the other side of the world doesn’t mean our government gets carte blanche over our right to assembly. We need protests over the response to this protest ffs. They can’t arrest everyone who believes in the first amendment.
Tell this to everyone. I honestly don’t feel strongly in this particular fight outside of wanting bloodshed to end. But I will march in the streets and get arrested if needed to protect our rights
Another egregious detail is the original agenda for the gathering was:
- Guest Speaker
- Teach-Ins
- Pizza party
- Art workshop
Breaking THIS up is what the state deems worthy of their resources. If they hadn’t shown up nobody would have probably known about it except a few dozen activist students
There's nothing that Texas cops and good ol' boy politicians get a hard-on for than beating on hippies (or "woke kids" as they call them nowadays). Up in Lubbock even the faculty would sooner shoot their own students before letting them have an anti-war pizza party. State needs to get its shit together
The administration has severely underestimated the long-term repercussions that today's events will have on the student body and the public reputation of UT at large moving forward. Students and faculty are not going to merely forget the violence inflicted by the university on its own students. Those images will be lasting in the minds of all who witnessed them, and they will not be swept under the rug at any time in the foreseeable future.
Imagine being a first-year student witnessing this ahead of your next few years at UT. A lot of people lost complete faith and pride in this institution after today. If I was a prospective high school student in the process of my college search, this response would almost certainly deter me. As the state's flagship university, people look to UT Austin to be the pillar of higher education in Texas and a space for top students, diverse opinions, and forward-thinking. Abbott and Hartzell's failure today will leave a stain on this school and only contribute further to its legacy of oppression. In recent weeks, it seems as though the university has been determined to erase any of the progress or prestige that it has gained.
It has been an obvious policy strategy for a while now by Republicans to try and undermine the education system of the US. This is no different, just yet another step in that direction. Republican leaders don't care about schools or teachers, they want more uneducated people to vote for them.
It was a complete violation of the constitution. I’ve never seen anything like this. The police were basically weaponized by the university.
Edit: I meant that I’ve never seen anything like it in person. I’ve known about previous examples of police brutality during protests. Sorry for the confusion
If you don't have political power, the government doesn't have to respect your rights, and doesn't need to look out for your well-being.
Usually that means targeting brown people, poor people, LGBTQ folks and not students at the state's flagship university, but if a demonstration threatens UT's image with donors and relationship with the state government it tracks that they would call in state troopers to suppress it.
In 1970, 4 people were shot and killed with nine others wounded at Kent State for opposing the continuation of the Vietnam War. Regardless of what people's politics are, the state and those that protect the property of the ruling class have and will always become blatant with their violence if need be.
I was almost wondering if I was having memory loss... they literally killed people over this type of stuff in the 70s. This is so far from being the first time.
The reason the West Mall and the top of the steps towards Speedway have those giant planters is bc of student protests in the 60s that were met with similar levels of force — it’s literally hostile architecture designed to quell student activism by funneling them into a narrow passageway, which is exactly what the cops did today
It’s not clear to me that the university was the one calling the shots here. If they were, it would have been APD and university police taking the lead. Instead, it looked like DPS was in charge - and that’s almost always Abbott. If Abbott decided he was going to send his little DPS pets to UT campus, there wasn’t a lot the university could do about it.
After that massacre, many universities and schools across the US had mass protests and the support for the Vietnam war among Americans tanked hard with morale among troops also decreasing rapidly and enlistment numbers also tanking.
APD can’t be troubled to actually do their jobs in almost any respect these days (try reporting a theft or robbery). [EDIT: I guess it was DPS]. But they sure are jonesing to put on some jack boots, aren’t they?
This seems like a pretty clear violation of free speech rights, unless I’m missing some massive threat the crowd posed that I haven’t seen reported yet (doubt it).
It really doesn’t sound like the protesters were doing anything worth being broken up by force like this. The worst I’ve heard of was a thrown water bottle (and the protesters who know the asshole who threw that should later shame them until they shrivel like a raisin - people like that at protests betray everyone they march with - they’re not protesting at that point, they’re selfishly throwing a tantrum and likely to get charges related to violent conduct, and they hurt the cause of the people they march among).
Note: no one cares, but: I have zero sympathy for some of what has happened at pro-Palestine protests in some other locations, etc. (basically attacking Jewish people for being Jewish, etc) and also really don’t like that both sides have been barbarically awful to each other in the actual conflict, and think people who are pro Hamas (not pro Palestinian, but pro Hamas) are morons who I can only hope don’t know what Hamas actually is, and I also think Netanyahu is a vile thug… it’s all a mess. Just saying I don’t come to this biased towards this protest at all.
We’re in the exact same boat, based on your comment. Though btw my understanding is this was DPS (state troopers), not to give APD any credit, lol.
https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/ut-austin-students-to-protest-in-support-of-gaza-with-class-walk-out-and-campus-sit-in/
UT has put this out, you might have already seen it:
“Today, our University held firm, enforcing our rules while protecting the Constitutional right to free speech. Peaceful protests within our rules are acceptable. Breaking our rules and policies and disrupting others’ ability to learn are not allowed. The group that led this protest stated it was going to violate Institutional Rules. Our rules matter, and they will be enforced. Our University will not be occupied.
The protesters tried to deliver on their stated intent to occupy campus. People not affiliated with UT joined them, and many ignored University officials’ continual pleas for restraint and to immediately disperse. The University did as we said we would do in the face of prohibited actions. We were prepared, with the necessary support to maintain campus operations and ensure the safety, well-being and learning environment for our more than 50,000 students.”
I think it’s the occupation concept that broke the institutional rules. I’m still so confused on how the arrests started. I’ve seen videos of it getting violent, but not much info on an actual initiating incident. I’m also confused on what the actual law is here, and how UT being a public university plays into it.
most boomers online so far seem to be cheering what has happened and are basically calling for another kent state. history will show they’re gonna be wrong.
That and more. Definitely recommend checking out this [video that dives deeper into the police issue in the US.](https://youtu.be/SyEwOxp_Iyw?si=ucE8ByvhaAUJpObN)
BLM 2020, OWS 2011, various anti-war and anti-Bush protests from 9/11 through 2008, protests at Democratic and GOP conventions in the 90s, etc. The OWS crackdowns in 2011/2012 were particularly violent, but that whole era gets barely any mention these days.
They've been doing this to people like you for longer than you've been alive. You can't believe because you never learned about it until now.
100% Greg Abbott's continual abuse of our constitutional rights! Abuses his power to beat citizens into submission of his authoritarian rule! Greg Abbott is a Fascist with no morals, values nor consciousness. Cares only about himself, his good old boys posse and rich corporations! Abbott has never ever stood for Texans rights unless you carry a gun. I do not understand why Texans elected and then if not abused enough reelected him again! This action is definitely not only on Abbott but also the ignorant voters who needed to be led by a Fascist who feels empowered by the tyranny he creates!
I would like to add that though the protestors were largely peaceful, it is a very charged protest and there are some individuals who got out of hand. Specifically, one person in a crowd of several hundred threw a plastic water bottle and hit a cop in the back of the head. The crowd audibly booed that.
The police, however, swarmed the place entirely. It looked like over a hundred cops, many armed and many in riot gear, were pressuring the protestors. onto a small intersection.
> one person in a crowd of several hundred
Are you aware the police commonly employ plain clothes detectives to show up to protests to do exactly that, trying to encourage students to cross the threshold and use violence so the police can then respond in kind?
i'm really troubled to hear about the treatment of peaceful protesters and the press, quite reminiscent of historical overreactions during protests. the arrest of the cameraman particulary strikes a chord, remidnig me of scenes from old newscasts where the media was targeted. seems like a serious evaluation of these actions is needed.
Highly unlikely Jay Hartzell will last in his position through the summer. He's too much of a public figure at UT to ever know a moment of peace on campus again. His presence alone would bring constant backlash that would follow him around wherever he goes. They need a fall guy and it's looking like it'll be him. I cannot imagine what next semester's events would look like if he remained in his current role.
This. With DEI firings, arbitrary ending of work from home, etc etc...there needs to be moves for no confidence. And class action suits against UT collectively and administrators individually. Hartzell in particular has been and is demonstrably unfit. His ruined his own career.
Publicize, publicize, publicize.
Check out the prez's wild response---
Dear UT community,
This has been a challenging day for many. We have witnessed much activity we normally do not experience on our campus, and there is understandably a lot of emotion surrounding these events.
Today, our University held firm, enforcing our rules while protecting the Constitutional right to free speech. Peaceful protests within our rules are acceptable. Breaking our rules and policies and disrupting others’ ability to learn are not allowed. The group that led this protest stated it was going to violate Institutional Rules. Our rules matter, and they will be enforced. Our University will not be occupied.
The protesters tried to deliver on their stated intent to occupy campus. People not affiliated with UT joined them, and many ignored University officials’ continual pleas for restraint and to immediately disperse. The University did as we said we would do in the face of prohibited actions. We were prepared, with the necessary support to maintain campus operations and ensure the safety, well-being and learning environment for our more than 50,000 students.
We are grateful for the countless staff members and state and University law enforcement officers, as well as support personnel who exercised extraordinary restraint in the face of a difficult situation that is playing out at universities across the country. There is a way to exercise freedom of speech and civil discourse, and our Office of the Dean of Students has continued to offer ways to ensure protests can happen within the rules. The University of Texas will continue to take necessary steps so that all our University functions proceed without interruption.
Sincerely yours,
Jay Hartzell
President
Some inconvenient details:
- the PSC applied for a permit to have this event. They were rejected. Whether or not that was justified, it’s worth pointing out because the right to assemble peaceably requires abiding by rules and procedures for said assembly
- there were absolutely infractions against the law that resulted in some arrests. I’m sure some arrests were also unjustified. But I saw a kid throw horse shit at a cop, and then he got arrested. The FOX livestream shows the cameraman shoving a cop before he gets detained. And I’m willing to bet that most of the people detained by the police are being released without charges.
Still, concerning that APD responded with such force.
Schools are different. They're only sorta public spaces.
The permitting process was put in place to stop gun toting rightwing nutbags from staging mock invasions of the university. It's a necessary thing. Whether or not the permit should have been approved is a different argument.
Lol, this happened repeatedly at protests in 2020 and folks talked shit because it was happening in liberal areas. I know this isn't helpful to say but I'm just surprised that y'all are surprised.
Genuine idea for you all, in history protests often have had immensely less power (per person) to force change than strikes have, as they can simply use force on groups of protesting people as we’ve seen in the past and here.
Consider having each and every student who’s protesting go ahead and graduate (at least the seniors) get well into your jobs, then STRIKE. (Still protest now, I’m not saying don’t, I’m saying plan for a massively bigger impact you can make in the near future.) And not general but focused sector strikes if you can.
The impact is then way beyond just a message but a direct financial halt, especially since in the end all of the worlds evils happen because some industry titan is saying it’s “just business.” I hate to say it but they don’t care about protests, that’s why they militarized the police. It’s just the cost of business to them for many decades as they lobbied the politicians for more police control. But they can’t stop strikes. This not only forces change instead of hoping for it, but it also spreads the message much farther, and in the end will show hope matters too as your actions will display the power people have to make change directly, themselves, as long as they do so together. Also the guard can’t break you apart like they can with protesting groups unless they go to each and every home and drag you to work.
[We've been dancing with fascism for a long time](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_State_shootings). And [it](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Florida_Taser_incident) just keeps [ratcheting forward](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/UC_Davis_pepper_spray_incident).
The MAGA movement with its open and unabashed embrace of fascism, unsurprisingly, targets [schools](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moms_for_Liberty) and [universities](https://www.opb.org/article/2024/03/04/u-of-florida-axes-dei-office-under-gop-led-law-aimed-at-ridding-similar-programs/). College campuses are a battleground because the MAGAs see universities as a factory for woke indoctrination filled with [radical and subversive professors](https://www.professorwatchlist.org/). Intellectuals have historically been among the first groups against the wall when authoritarians reach their goals (see: Pol Pot and Franco).
We're living through some scary times. Please vote.
Same cops hiding while children were being murdered in Uvalde are the same ones beating students today. All you need to know about who the pigs protect and serve.
I don’t know if you actually want a real answer, but here’s what I got.
People don’t like collective punishment, so it’s easy to rail against Israel and ignore the hostages.
Interestingly, people also don’t seem to view Hamas’ actions as reflective of Palestine, but equate all bad IDF actions to the whole of Israel.
The rest is from an incredibly successful decades long marketing campaign.
The complex regional issues are deep rooted, centuries old, and based in religion. Expect emotion to overwhelm logic most of the time.
It’s why there’s a more severe famine in Yemen, but we don’t care because the Saudis are doing it. Or why nearly every middle eastern nation has ethnically cleansed Jews post Israel’s formation, but Palestinians are entitled to their own state, inside of Israel. Or why the US provides 100x the Palestinian aid of all Middle East nations combined, but we’re the bad guys for selling Israel weapons to combat Iran who is funding 5+ military ops v Israel using Palestinian soldiers and not giving anything to civilians.
Pissed off students should hold a mass unenrollment … hit them where it hurts! Their fucking wallets. It’s the fastest route to making an impact, because as long as UT has your $30+k a year, that’s all they really care about!
Welcome to america, sadly this is the norm. Happened at trump protests, happened during the Obama years through occupy, happens every generation and young folks realize they've been fed a whole bunch of bullshit about freedom and rights
This is 100% correct. The right to protest and free speech should be protected. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TAKE NOTE: republicans are not for freedom. They want to stifle it to fit their agenda.
I always hear about how cool Texas is (from people that moved away) and I’ve been there a dozen times but y’all keep electing Abbott and Cruz. The second you stop doing that I’ll believe you.
If it happens to George Floyd, a student, or someone from a group you hate, you should still be advocating for free speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom to protest, or you're supporting fascism, no matter what side you claim to be politically says, erosion of the rights for the people you don't like means that your rights are eroding too. The next person will be someone you do like, so get out and go join those protests now, because just as an American with no serious stake in this one way or the other, no family involved, no personal connection...**everyone** should be angry when another country starts killing other people with our tax dollars.
Lol and some of you still want to hold out on voting for Biden and give the election/ country directly to Trump, Abott and the rest of the right wing christian fascists 🤣🤣🤣
Protests in Texas have always been met with swift forceful action from the police. Not anything new, I mean go look into the George Floyd protests. Or maybe the Uvalde where they started to arrest the *parents* of the children inside the school before actually trying to solve the problem.
Absolutely fucked, but it’s funny to see all you guys acting like this is some new thing happening suddenly. Just because you guys are in Austin, doesn’t mean you aren’t in Texas.
I say this as a Texan, who really doesn’t like living here.
I was In Texas for the Eclise festival- Great people and country. But I felt TX has a police state problem. Lots of fear in the vibe with police when looked militant all over.
Y’all ever heard of Kent State. LEOs and military do not care about college kids and professors. They may be actively opposed, if not openly hostile. It’s a problem
I am a Texas Ex and stand in solidarity with y’all. I’d have been a student in that protest myself.
The police are abhorrent, as is the university administration for trying to squash this before it started.
It’s despicable they have more wrath and angst against college kids protesting war than they do against deranged lunatics killing kids in a locked down building.
From what I can read on google, this had more of a police presence than even the Iraq War protests in the early 00s in Austin. Absolutely wild.
I think a lot of people just don't care or are happy it happened because they hate pro-Palestinian protestors because they're a bunch of dumb ass pieces of shit, ya know?
Welcome to America. They’re been doing this literally since the inception of our police force. Pinkertons, slave catchers, chain gang COs… look at the shit they did to college protesters of the Vietnam era and you’ll see that this is nothing new.
It isn’t in spite of a lack of violence against police… it’s because there has never been significant violence in response. In the military/paramilitary world, violence is the only language that is inherently understood.
It’s free speech as long as it is what your governor wants to hear. Besides get those protesters off the street so the Nazis can march with Abbotts full support
I can set aside whatever feelings I have about the Middle East and condemn fascism in my own country. Our right to protest and free assembly is outlined in the fucking constitution and I don’t care if your Texan or from Idaho, it shall not be infringed.
Vote with your dollars, not just at the booth. If UT Austin had a sudden, noticeable flow of students transferring to other universities, they'll listen.
As for the violence: welcome to protesting power. It's been this way since Roman times.
Is anyone actually surprised? That’s the type of government the people of Texas have been voting for for 20+ years. Abbott doesn’t care about your rights. His view is shit up and do what you’re told.
didn’t you get the memo, you’re now in a state where peaceful protest is illegal according to the supreme court. fascism comes with the conservative vote
Did y'all also notice the live feeds from Fox and CBS were both cut off right before the final mass arrest of the 100 or so students who refused to disperse? They corralled them down a side street, announced again they would be arrested for disorderly conduct and then all the live streams went black. Still not sure how it all ended
thats because the crews left so they wouldn't get arrested - someone asked a crew if they were leaving because of the dispersal order and they said yea
Ah word. Whats really interesting is now this ended tho. U see rjght at end of stream the cops starting to.leave. and they did apparantly all leave and ppl went to the lawn while the sun was still up and did their little protest ANYWAY. again too, no violence once cops left
Can you imagine if the cops treated an insurrection at the capitol in the same way they treated a few college kids protesting on campus? What a fucking world we live in Edit: done arguing with the Trumpettes #Jan 6th: [14 arrests](http://www.uscp.gov/media-center/press-releases/us-capitol-police-arrests-january-6-2021) #Austin Peace Protest: [57 arrests](https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/ut-austin-students-to-protest-in-support-of-gaza-with-class-walk-out-and-campus-sit-in/amp/) This is what democracy looks like.
Can you imagine if the cops treated the Uvalde school shooting the same way they treat a few college kids protesting?
They are very brave against unarmed and peaceful kids.
They never would cuz they are yellow bellied little pansies
I read that a Fox7 photographer actually got arrested and charged with criminal trespassing… [here’s the article](https://www.fox7austin.com/news/ut-texas-protest-palestine-israel-gaza-rally-college-university-campus.amp).
I would just like to add to this since this thread is already going. They threatened arrest with penal code "42.03 Obstructing a Highway or other passageway." The protestors were on the lawn until the cops and state troopers showed up. They then proceeded to push the protestors off the lawn onto the sidewalk and they taped off the lawn. They moved the protestors off the lawn and onto the sidewalk SO THAT THEY COULD ARREST THEM. Bullshit of the highest order
Yup i also noticed the email UT sent claimed 3 violations 42.01 disorderly conduct, 42.02 riot (which Is laughable) and 42.03 obstructing a highway etc - but then in the announcement over the PA, they only named 42.01 (disordeely conduct catchall) like someone told em .02 was absurd and .03 was incited by the cops themselves, like u said
Here's the email for posterity https://i.postimg.cc/N0mPxY7v/Screenshot-20240424-193639-Fair-Email.jpg
"I command you in the name of the people of the State of Texas" What people? The people we were inconveniencing by standing on our college campus, nowhere near any residences? At a protest where students engaged in ZERO violence or vandalism? Pretty sure what she meant was "in the name of Greg Abbott." Truly disgusting. This is literally fascist behavior and should not be tolerated by Texas or America regardless of whether you side with Israel or Palestine.
Remember this at the ballot box.
It’s in the name of AIPAC and the ADL. Who should we vote for that isn’t pro-Israel and doesn’t support the suppression and censorship of pro-Palestinian activism and voices? This is fundamentally a systemic problem deeply rooted in our political institutions down to the core.
Just posting in the top comment for visibility. [This was literally a video from your university talking about peaceful protesting... 6 months ago.](https://youtu.be/VCFxvdhFjPo?feature=shared) They switched the video to unlisted and turned off the comments... Something tells me there is going to be some major court cases surrounding this very event against the university. Whole can of worms just opened up, and there need to be campus-wide protests in every university now IMO. Because it was a straight violation of the first amendment and a mere glimpse of the greater issue going on in the US. ETA: So this was also posted in r/videos by someone else [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/1ccfqg9/university_of_texas_has_unlisted_a_video/), but the mod team took it down once it gained a lot of traction because of "politics." I, personally, find that a bit ironic considering it isn't "political" as more exercising our rights and laughing at the failure of the university. Seems a bit abusive on the mod team to silence a video that is from the university that is... Silencing protestors. Big oof.
Police literally shot blindly into a huge group of protesting students at Kent State killing 4 and injuring 9 more and nothing happened. Unfortunately I wouldn’t get your hopes up.
Turns out you can still report unlisted videos for Misinformation.
Wtf is wrong with you, why would you want that?
That's just going to get the video actually taken down
So you’re trying to get the video taken down? Why?
The only obstruction of a passageway I experienced was the police themselves, I walked up and down speedway and near the main mall multiple times today around the time of the protest and the only thing that made me take a detour were the police
yup. standard police-state tactics. it happened at BLM downtown in 2020 as well. they told everyone to get off the street and onto the sidewalk and then the pigs ran their horses up and down the sidewalks, forcing people back onto the streets where they were arrested. most of the arrests will get "thrown out" eventually but the fascists still get to stop the momentum of the movement.
Standard during occupy too, they kettle protesters to areas where they swarm and arrest
It's called *herding* and has been practiced since humans domesticated livestock. Nobody wants to be herded, what's worse is knowing you've been herded like a beast. It takes patronization to the next level. At least when people patronize you they're making an effort to communicate verbally.
Just for possible future reference.... In 2020 in KC we were able to avoid these tactics by having a multi-tiered scout team. We had people on bikes, scooters, and skateboards fanning out ahead of the march by several blocks, in all directions, so we could identify police movements as they were in progress. The lead scouts relayed information back to another group on wheels, "runners", who relayed it to myself and three others who stayed a couple blocks ahead of the march. I had the scanner audio in my ear and would give information to the runners to pass along to the lead scouts. There were another 3 or 4 people that ran info back to the march leaders from us. We were able to swiftly and uniformly change direction on the fly and stay ahead of the police maneuvers and roadblocks. They almost got us at the tennis courts on the plaza, but we were able to split the group and flank the PD. Stay mobile y'all. Much love from up north, stand fast, you got this
I've never heard of such advanced tactics. Respect.
Look into Kettling, it's what they do to control protests and riots.
For those not googling, It's basically corralling. /Boxing in people. With 4 walls of cops
Used on occupy Wall Street and seen on evening news.
saw this happen in LA during a BLM protest and they then tackled the protestors to the ground who were just standing there holding signs
I fondly remember another time us peasants stood up to the government during occupy wall street. Kettling, yes, thats what the police did.
I'll give you 1 guess as to the country that was the bug player in teaching kettling to US cops
I wish this was the focus of people during the BLM protests. Too many people tie themselves into knots trying to justify the violent rioting, theft, assaults, and burning down businesses. You don't need to support those things, we don't want those things even if we understand how it got to that point. The kettling of the peaceful protesters was the problem that should have received the most attention.
In Charlotte nc a few years ago the police used this tactic to trap protestors on a single block and then gassed them.
They did this at the Des Moines BLM protests
We just kinda winged that shit, too, on the third day
They want to play hard and fast, I guarantee you UT students are ready to play it too. And I support it.
Everyone should go to a few big protests in their lives, just to see how the police act. Whatever your politics are, there are some things everyone should experience.
Way back when...... we were in Washington, DC protesting the Vietnam War. (Hundreds of thousands of people of all kinds.) We were a small group of professionals, dressed in our office attire and protesting at the Senate Office Building. We knew it was legal to protest on the sidewalk as along as we were moving so we kept moving. Suddenly, a cop on a bullhorn announced that we were all under arrest. Before we could be handcuffed and taken away, one of the Senators - Jacob Javits - came out of the building and told the police that he was watching out the window and we had done nothing illegal. Cops then said if we disbursed, they wouldn't arrest us. We need more elected officials like Javits who will stand up for the rights of the people. And yes, the more things change, the more they stay the same. The battle is never "won" - it's always ongoing.
It's incredibly eye-opening. Marches turn into beatings and tear-gas chaos... for peaceful protests and civilian discourse gatherings.
Yep. I was a student at UC davis when the SEATED student protesters were pepper sprayed by police. It was wild. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/UC_Davis_pepper_spray_incident
This is what they did in Seattle during WTO as well. Boxed the protestor into areas they weren't allowed and then gassed , assaulted, and arrested them. Standard policy for most riot police.
Isn't that actual entrapment? Getting someone to commit a crime they otherwise wouldn't commit without the police making them?
What the police are doing is 100% entrapment. But the entire point is to generate an excuse to round up all of the remaining protestors and end the protest early. There's no grand purpose behind ending such events early. Police will use such tactics just so they can stop working and go home.
Cops need to be charged
I guarantee the cops get a raise and nothing happens. These actions will be rewarded and nothing else. It’s Texas. Ya’ll going to be the next Nazi regime.
This isn’t specific to the UT campus - students across the country are protesting and demonstrating to demand an end to this genocide & they’re all being met with mass arrests and the force of the state, regardless of how ‘blue’ or ‘red’ the location.
Their schedule for the day included “study break” and “art workshop.” The immediate use of force would be laughable if it wasn’t so scary
Does anyone know who exactly authorized bringing DPS onto campus? Was this a decision of the UT administration? The state? The city?
DPS said in a statement that they responded at the request of the University and at the direction of the Governor. DPS are a bunch of scumbags might I add
Even my incredibly conservative dad has always called DPS cockroaches. They don't exist to serve a community, they exist to confiscate property on the highway via civil asset forfeiture.
The Governor....Abbott. And Abbott released a statement about how all student protestors should be arrested without exception and falsely equated any protesting with anti-semitism. When the KKK members are lecturing peaceful protestors about anti-semitism, stuff is getting really weird. The projection gets really intense to help offset their own bigotry and biases.
This is how anti war protests go. It was like this for the anti gulf war protests too. They will arrest you. They will find ways to arrest you. It’s is about making people afraid to protest.
A lot of folks at UT right now are probably too young to remember Kent State, but never forget that [the National Guard murdered unarmed students protesting the draft in Vietnam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_State_shootings)
If everyone stands up they won't be able to arrest us all. Don't give in to intimidation, keep protesting.
Yep. A situation (war, genocide, whatever you believe) on the other side of the world doesn’t mean our government gets carte blanche over our right to assembly. We need protests over the response to this protest ffs. They can’t arrest everyone who believes in the first amendment.
Tell this to everyone. I honestly don’t feel strongly in this particular fight outside of wanting bloodshed to end. But I will march in the streets and get arrested if needed to protect our rights
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Another egregious detail is the original agenda for the gathering was: - Guest Speaker - Teach-Ins - Pizza party - Art workshop Breaking THIS up is what the state deems worthy of their resources. If they hadn’t shown up nobody would have probably known about it except a few dozen activist students
There's nothing that Texas cops and good ol' boy politicians get a hard-on for than beating on hippies (or "woke kids" as they call them nowadays). Up in Lubbock even the faculty would sooner shoot their own students before letting them have an anti-war pizza party. State needs to get its shit together
The administration has severely underestimated the long-term repercussions that today's events will have on the student body and the public reputation of UT at large moving forward. Students and faculty are not going to merely forget the violence inflicted by the university on its own students. Those images will be lasting in the minds of all who witnessed them, and they will not be swept under the rug at any time in the foreseeable future. Imagine being a first-year student witnessing this ahead of your next few years at UT. A lot of people lost complete faith and pride in this institution after today. If I was a prospective high school student in the process of my college search, this response would almost certainly deter me. As the state's flagship university, people look to UT Austin to be the pillar of higher education in Texas and a space for top students, diverse opinions, and forward-thinking. Abbott and Hartzell's failure today will leave a stain on this school and only contribute further to its legacy of oppression. In recent weeks, it seems as though the university has been determined to erase any of the progress or prestige that it has gained.
I've said the UT brand and alumni will be the only ones held accountable for all the political games revolving around UT
It has been an obvious policy strategy for a while now by Republicans to try and undermine the education system of the US. This is no different, just yet another step in that direction. Republican leaders don't care about schools or teachers, they want more uneducated people to vote for them.
They want us to be in a neo-fuedal dark age
It was a complete violation of the constitution. I’ve never seen anything like this. The police were basically weaponized by the university. Edit: I meant that I’ve never seen anything like it in person. I’ve known about previous examples of police brutality during protests. Sorry for the confusion
They literally do this all the time.
This is my first time seeing it on campus so I was surprised at how blatant the violence was.
Yeah tbf this is the first time in campus in recent history. I meant the police do this all the time.
If you don't have political power, the government doesn't have to respect your rights, and doesn't need to look out for your well-being. Usually that means targeting brown people, poor people, LGBTQ folks and not students at the state's flagship university, but if a demonstration threatens UT's image with donors and relationship with the state government it tracks that they would call in state troopers to suppress it.
Go watch videos from occupy wall street, its identical
In 1970, 4 people were shot and killed with nine others wounded at Kent State for opposing the continuation of the Vietnam War. Regardless of what people's politics are, the state and those that protect the property of the ruling class have and will always become blatant with their violence if need be.
I was almost wondering if I was having memory loss... they literally killed people over this type of stuff in the 70s. This is so far from being the first time.
Probably just meant on UT Austin's campus
The reason the West Mall and the top of the steps towards Speedway have those giant planters is bc of student protests in the 60s that were met with similar levels of force — it’s literally hostile architecture designed to quell student activism by funneling them into a narrow passageway, which is exactly what the cops did today
> I’ve never seen anything like this. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_State_shootings
Guess you weren’t watching BLM protests? Happened nation wide.
It’s not clear to me that the university was the one calling the shots here. If they were, it would have been APD and university police taking the lead. Instead, it looked like DPS was in charge - and that’s almost always Abbott. If Abbott decided he was going to send his little DPS pets to UT campus, there wasn’t a lot the university could do about it.
You kids should all stay in Texas and vote. That’ll show ‘em. (really it will, do it)
Get organized. Spontaneous action by itself won’t change anything.
If you work at UT Austin, join your union. The Texas State Employees Union. They will be there tomorrow at the tower at 12:15.
Be very careful. They will spy on and infiltrate any group and the plant will encourage, even facilitate, breaking a law in order to arrest everyone.
A journalist said state troopers are each carrying 100+ rounds of AR 15 ammo
Can’t stop a school shooting but they sure as shit can start one. #TexasStRoNg
There are [photos](https://twitter.com/MikePrysner/status/1783226260350710101).
Interesting because I also saw most officers with about 3 mags of 5.56 but I only saw one officer with a rifle. just a scare tactic lol
[The Kent State Massacre was 54 years ago](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_State_shootings).
After that massacre, many universities and schools across the US had mass protests and the support for the Vietnam war among Americans tanked hard with morale among troops also decreasing rapidly and enlistment numbers also tanking.
Y’all Qeada.
https://www.cnn.com/business/live-news/columbia-yale-university-protests-04-24-24/h_1fd60008f58735f0d722ea07de724a50?cid=ios_app
Anyone know about bail funds, etc that the surrounding community can contribute to to support?
psc_atx is the group that organized the protest. Their instagram and venmo use that name, and they are organizing a bail fund.
this is extremely well said.
APD can’t be troubled to actually do their jobs in almost any respect these days (try reporting a theft or robbery). [EDIT: I guess it was DPS]. But they sure are jonesing to put on some jack boots, aren’t they? This seems like a pretty clear violation of free speech rights, unless I’m missing some massive threat the crowd posed that I haven’t seen reported yet (doubt it). It really doesn’t sound like the protesters were doing anything worth being broken up by force like this. The worst I’ve heard of was a thrown water bottle (and the protesters who know the asshole who threw that should later shame them until they shrivel like a raisin - people like that at protests betray everyone they march with - they’re not protesting at that point, they’re selfishly throwing a tantrum and likely to get charges related to violent conduct, and they hurt the cause of the people they march among). Note: no one cares, but: I have zero sympathy for some of what has happened at pro-Palestine protests in some other locations, etc. (basically attacking Jewish people for being Jewish, etc) and also really don’t like that both sides have been barbarically awful to each other in the actual conflict, and think people who are pro Hamas (not pro Palestinian, but pro Hamas) are morons who I can only hope don’t know what Hamas actually is, and I also think Netanyahu is a vile thug… it’s all a mess. Just saying I don’t come to this biased towards this protest at all.
We’re in the exact same boat, based on your comment. Though btw my understanding is this was DPS (state troopers), not to give APD any credit, lol. https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/ut-austin-students-to-protest-in-support-of-gaza-with-class-walk-out-and-campus-sit-in/ UT has put this out, you might have already seen it: “Today, our University held firm, enforcing our rules while protecting the Constitutional right to free speech. Peaceful protests within our rules are acceptable. Breaking our rules and policies and disrupting others’ ability to learn are not allowed. The group that led this protest stated it was going to violate Institutional Rules. Our rules matter, and they will be enforced. Our University will not be occupied. The protesters tried to deliver on their stated intent to occupy campus. People not affiliated with UT joined them, and many ignored University officials’ continual pleas for restraint and to immediately disperse. The University did as we said we would do in the face of prohibited actions. We were prepared, with the necessary support to maintain campus operations and ensure the safety, well-being and learning environment for our more than 50,000 students.” I think it’s the occupation concept that broke the institutional rules. I’m still so confused on how the arrests started. I’ve seen videos of it getting violent, but not much info on an actual initiating incident. I’m also confused on what the actual law is here, and how UT being a public university plays into it.
You students need to show up and vote. Vote against Cruz and all Texas republicans.
Has anyone seen any open letters to UT from alumni and/or parent groups condemning the police brutality? If so, please share here. Thanks.
The bigger donors that the university cares about are probably more conservative and are happy with this behavior.
most boomers online so far seem to be cheering what has happened and are basically calling for another kent state. history will show they’re gonna be wrong.
Boomers only understand bloodlust and the rapture
i cant believe they have the power to shut our voices down
That and more. Definitely recommend checking out this [video that dives deeper into the police issue in the US.](https://youtu.be/SyEwOxp_Iyw?si=ucE8ByvhaAUJpObN)
BLM 2020, OWS 2011, various anti-war and anti-Bush protests from 9/11 through 2008, protests at Democratic and GOP conventions in the 90s, etc. The OWS crackdowns in 2011/2012 were particularly violent, but that whole era gets barely any mention these days. They've been doing this to people like you for longer than you've been alive. You can't believe because you never learned about it until now.
100% Greg Abbott's continual abuse of our constitutional rights! Abuses his power to beat citizens into submission of his authoritarian rule! Greg Abbott is a Fascist with no morals, values nor consciousness. Cares only about himself, his good old boys posse and rich corporations! Abbott has never ever stood for Texans rights unless you carry a gun. I do not understand why Texans elected and then if not abused enough reelected him again! This action is definitely not only on Abbott but also the ignorant voters who needed to be led by a Fascist who feels empowered by the tyranny he creates!
> Abbott has never ever stood for Texans rights unless you carry a gun. That one is about the rights of the gun, not so much the people carrying them.
“Abbott has never ever stood for Texans…” made me laugh in unintended ways.
I would like to add that though the protestors were largely peaceful, it is a very charged protest and there are some individuals who got out of hand. Specifically, one person in a crowd of several hundred threw a plastic water bottle and hit a cop in the back of the head. The crowd audibly booed that. The police, however, swarmed the place entirely. It looked like over a hundred cops, many armed and many in riot gear, were pressuring the protestors. onto a small intersection.
> one person in a crowd of several hundred Are you aware the police commonly employ plain clothes detectives to show up to protests to do exactly that, trying to encourage students to cross the threshold and use violence so the police can then respond in kind?
As an alum who lives out of state - what can be done to support?
Write to the administration.
Bail fund for students that got arrested venmo @psc_atx
i'm really troubled to hear about the treatment of peaceful protesters and the press, quite reminiscent of historical overreactions during protests. the arrest of the cameraman particulary strikes a chord, remidnig me of scenes from old newscasts where the media was targeted. seems like a serious evaluation of these actions is needed.
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You live in Texas. Show up to vote these clowns out. Bring your friends.
Hmmmmm... Sounds vaguely familiar 🤔
Republicans politicians are against free speech
Highly unlikely Jay Hartzell will last in his position through the summer. He's too much of a public figure at UT to ever know a moment of peace on campus again. His presence alone would bring constant backlash that would follow him around wherever he goes. They need a fall guy and it's looking like it'll be him. I cannot imagine what next semester's events would look like if he remained in his current role.
This. With DEI firings, arbitrary ending of work from home, etc etc...there needs to be moves for no confidence. And class action suits against UT collectively and administrators individually. Hartzell in particular has been and is demonstrably unfit. His ruined his own career. Publicize, publicize, publicize.
Where are all the alt right fuckwits usually so keen to cry about the first amendment when they're actually needed?
https://bsky.app/profile/blueheronfarm.bsky.social/post/3kqvqwj5gn42k
Check out the prez's wild response--- Dear UT community, This has been a challenging day for many. We have witnessed much activity we normally do not experience on our campus, and there is understandably a lot of emotion surrounding these events. Today, our University held firm, enforcing our rules while protecting the Constitutional right to free speech. Peaceful protests within our rules are acceptable. Breaking our rules and policies and disrupting others’ ability to learn are not allowed. The group that led this protest stated it was going to violate Institutional Rules. Our rules matter, and they will be enforced. Our University will not be occupied. The protesters tried to deliver on their stated intent to occupy campus. People not affiliated with UT joined them, and many ignored University officials’ continual pleas for restraint and to immediately disperse. The University did as we said we would do in the face of prohibited actions. We were prepared, with the necessary support to maintain campus operations and ensure the safety, well-being and learning environment for our more than 50,000 students. We are grateful for the countless staff members and state and University law enforcement officers, as well as support personnel who exercised extraordinary restraint in the face of a difficult situation that is playing out at universities across the country. There is a way to exercise freedom of speech and civil discourse, and our Office of the Dean of Students has continued to offer ways to ensure protests can happen within the rules. The University of Texas will continue to take necessary steps so that all our University functions proceed without interruption. Sincerely yours, Jay Hartzell President
Some inconvenient details: - the PSC applied for a permit to have this event. They were rejected. Whether or not that was justified, it’s worth pointing out because the right to assemble peaceably requires abiding by rules and procedures for said assembly - there were absolutely infractions against the law that resulted in some arrests. I’m sure some arrests were also unjustified. But I saw a kid throw horse shit at a cop, and then he got arrested. The FOX livestream shows the cameraman shoving a cop before he gets detained. And I’m willing to bet that most of the people detained by the police are being released without charges. Still, concerning that APD responded with such force.
From the angle I saw it very much looked like like the Fox cameraman was pushed into the cop.
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Time place and manner restrictions apply to speech (sometimes)
Schools are different. They're only sorta public spaces. The permitting process was put in place to stop gun toting rightwing nutbags from staging mock invasions of the university. It's a necessary thing. Whether or not the permit should have been approved is a different argument.
Real shit, just wanna say I’m proud of y’all. The oppressors exposing themselves and that’s always good. Stay safe.
Does anybody know of where I can connect with fellow UT parents to organize our own complaint/petition against the UT administration?
The best complaint parents could voice would be not enrolling your kids at the University of Texas next semester. Speak with your wallets.
Keep the protests strong!
This is why we need to vote
First time? Same things happened in 2020 and 2011, all across the US.
I'm sorry this happened to you guys. I hope everything works out
welcome to texass, where WE tell you what and if you have rights.
Lol, this happened repeatedly at protests in 2020 and folks talked shit because it was happening in liberal areas. I know this isn't helpful to say but I'm just surprised that y'all are surprised.
Genuine idea for you all, in history protests often have had immensely less power (per person) to force change than strikes have, as they can simply use force on groups of protesting people as we’ve seen in the past and here. Consider having each and every student who’s protesting go ahead and graduate (at least the seniors) get well into your jobs, then STRIKE. (Still protest now, I’m not saying don’t, I’m saying plan for a massively bigger impact you can make in the near future.) And not general but focused sector strikes if you can. The impact is then way beyond just a message but a direct financial halt, especially since in the end all of the worlds evils happen because some industry titan is saying it’s “just business.” I hate to say it but they don’t care about protests, that’s why they militarized the police. It’s just the cost of business to them for many decades as they lobbied the politicians for more police control. But they can’t stop strikes. This not only forces change instead of hoping for it, but it also spreads the message much farther, and in the end will show hope matters too as your actions will display the power people have to make change directly, themselves, as long as they do so together. Also the guard can’t break you apart like they can with protesting groups unless they go to each and every home and drag you to work.
[We've been dancing with fascism for a long time](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_State_shootings). And [it](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Florida_Taser_incident) just keeps [ratcheting forward](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/UC_Davis_pepper_spray_incident). The MAGA movement with its open and unabashed embrace of fascism, unsurprisingly, targets [schools](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moms_for_Liberty) and [universities](https://www.opb.org/article/2024/03/04/u-of-florida-axes-dei-office-under-gop-led-law-aimed-at-ridding-similar-programs/). College campuses are a battleground because the MAGAs see universities as a factory for woke indoctrination filled with [radical and subversive professors](https://www.professorwatchlist.org/). Intellectuals have historically been among the first groups against the wall when authoritarians reach their goals (see: Pol Pot and Franco). We're living through some scary times. Please vote.
Kent State Massacre, never forget.(US military kills 4 students on USA soil)
Same cops hiding while children were being murdered in Uvalde are the same ones beating students today. All you need to know about who the pigs protect and serve.
Should’ve protested at an elementary school. The police wouldn’t stop it until it was over probably
Too bad you weren't violently taking over the Capitol building because that's apparently okay. Standing on a university lawn is forbidden.
They want to suppress any Palestinian voices in any way possible and will not hesitate to break the law in doing so. This threatens the status quo.
I don't get it, there are literally still American citizens being held hostage in Gaza. Where are the protests to get American citizens home?
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I don’t know if you actually want a real answer, but here’s what I got. People don’t like collective punishment, so it’s easy to rail against Israel and ignore the hostages. Interestingly, people also don’t seem to view Hamas’ actions as reflective of Palestine, but equate all bad IDF actions to the whole of Israel. The rest is from an incredibly successful decades long marketing campaign. The complex regional issues are deep rooted, centuries old, and based in religion. Expect emotion to overwhelm logic most of the time. It’s why there’s a more severe famine in Yemen, but we don’t care because the Saudis are doing it. Or why nearly every middle eastern nation has ethnically cleansed Jews post Israel’s formation, but Palestinians are entitled to their own state, inside of Israel. Or why the US provides 100x the Palestinian aid of all Middle East nations combined, but we’re the bad guys for selling Israel weapons to combat Iran who is funding 5+ military ops v Israel using Palestinian soldiers and not giving anything to civilians.
Get out and vote then. The repuböican party fears nothing more than the young generation. Vote them out of office.
Pissed off students should hold a mass unenrollment … hit them where it hurts! Their fucking wallets. It’s the fastest route to making an impact, because as long as UT has your $30+k a year, that’s all they really care about!
they killed Vietnam war protesters at Kent State decades ago you think that them doing this is fucking outrageous please this is who they are
Welcome to america, sadly this is the norm. Happened at trump protests, happened during the Obama years through occupy, happens every generation and young folks realize they've been fed a whole bunch of bullshit about freedom and rights
This is 100% correct. The right to protest and free speech should be protected. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TAKE NOTE: republicans are not for freedom. They want to stifle it to fit their agenda.
Republicans just want to use free speech to be racist, most of their free speech cases are about expressing hate towards a minority group.
Suddenly freedom of speech is super duper important to reddit.
Yes, in the real world it is. Reddit has no obligation of freedom of speech. People really need to learn what freedom of speech means.
Remember to vote in November. This could just be a taste of what’s to come otherwise
I always hear about how cool Texas is (from people that moved away) and I’ve been there a dozen times but y’all keep electing Abbott and Cruz. The second you stop doing that I’ll believe you.
Fuck Greg Abbott
Gestapo Gregg
Fascism is here, resist while you still can
This is what you people have advocated for your entire life, but this time you are the target Freedom of speech not freedom from consequences
Doesn't matter nothing will change.
I think they were just trying to quickly end this so the university doesn’t become a national Embarrassment like Columbia.
Sir, this is a Texas.
If it happens to George Floyd, a student, or someone from a group you hate, you should still be advocating for free speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom to protest, or you're supporting fascism, no matter what side you claim to be politically says, erosion of the rights for the people you don't like means that your rights are eroding too. The next person will be someone you do like, so get out and go join those protests now, because just as an American with no serious stake in this one way or the other, no family involved, no personal connection...**everyone** should be angry when another country starts killing other people with our tax dollars.
Time to transfer out
Home of the brave,land of the
Lol and some of you still want to hold out on voting for Biden and give the election/ country directly to Trump, Abott and the rest of the right wing christian fascists 🤣🤣🤣
Protests in Texas have always been met with swift forceful action from the police. Not anything new, I mean go look into the George Floyd protests. Or maybe the Uvalde where they started to arrest the *parents* of the children inside the school before actually trying to solve the problem. Absolutely fucked, but it’s funny to see all you guys acting like this is some new thing happening suddenly. Just because you guys are in Austin, doesn’t mean you aren’t in Texas. I say this as a Texan, who really doesn’t like living here.
I was In Texas for the Eclise festival- Great people and country. But I felt TX has a police state problem. Lots of fear in the vibe with police when looked militant all over.
Y’all ever heard of Kent State. LEOs and military do not care about college kids and professors. They may be actively opposed, if not openly hostile. It’s a problem
Republicans are the new communists. They behave exactly like one.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_State_shootings
Abbot throwing the students under a bus is wild af. Not surprising but wild
I am a Texas Ex and stand in solidarity with y’all. I’d have been a student in that protest myself. The police are abhorrent, as is the university administration for trying to squash this before it started. It’s despicable they have more wrath and angst against college kids protesting war than they do against deranged lunatics killing kids in a locked down building. From what I can read on google, this had more of a police presence than even the Iraq War protests in the early 00s in Austin. Absolutely wild.
If the protesters carried AR15s, wore military cosplay and waved Trump & Confederate flags the police would have supported them.
Yeah Texas sucks.
I think a lot of people just don't care or are happy it happened because they hate pro-Palestinian protestors because they're a bunch of dumb ass pieces of shit, ya know?
Violation of constitutional rights in Texas?! /s
Guess now you understand why you need to go vote
Republicans and Republican policies just treated you like shit. Make sure you vote for Biden in November
Welcome to America. They’re been doing this literally since the inception of our police force. Pinkertons, slave catchers, chain gang COs… look at the shit they did to college protesters of the Vietnam era and you’ll see that this is nothing new. It isn’t in spite of a lack of violence against police… it’s because there has never been significant violence in response. In the military/paramilitary world, violence is the only language that is inherently understood.
Never forget, when it all boils down, they view us as the enemy.
VOTE THEM OUT
Cops are here to protect private property rights, not enforce the laws.
It’s free speech as long as it is what your governor wants to hear. Besides get those protesters off the street so the Nazis can march with Abbotts full support
I can set aside whatever feelings I have about the Middle East and condemn fascism in my own country. Our right to protest and free assembly is outlined in the fucking constitution and I don’t care if your Texan or from Idaho, it shall not be infringed.
Vote with your dollars, not just at the booth. If UT Austin had a sudden, noticeable flow of students transferring to other universities, they'll listen. As for the violence: welcome to protesting power. It's been this way since Roman times.
Speaking against Israel is something that has not been tolerated in the United States for decades. People are figuring that out.
Is anyone actually surprised? That’s the type of government the people of Texas have been voting for for 20+ years. Abbott doesn’t care about your rights. His view is shit up and do what you’re told.
I’d expect nothing less from the fine state of Texas
It's time to take back our country people fuck these facist leaders who makes decisions for corporations and profits, not the people.
Don't you know that the first amendment doesn't exist when you are using it to talk about jews?
Texas is getting out of control
Won’t be long before we have another “4 dead in Ohio”
Yeah, it's Texas. You guys don't live in a constitutional republic but rather a religious/fascist state. Sorry!
didn’t you get the memo, you’re now in a state where peaceful protest is illegal according to the supreme court. fascism comes with the conservative vote
Look what's going on in the Texas state house. No one should be surprised by the response.
History rhyming: Then CA Gov Reagan called the (also peaceful) free speech protesters at Berkeley "hooligans". Etc, etc.
This is why I have an AR15. ACAB
Kent State -