The University of Pittsburgh demands conservative students pay $18,734 in security and damage fees caused by a mob of 250 leftist protesters who rioted at their scheduled event. Oh, and the university incited the students.
The Alliance Defending Freedom sent a demand letter to the school for charging the Intercollegiate Studies Institute and the university’s College Republicans chapter as a violation of their 1st Amendment rights.
The school incited the students, telling them to protest.
“Charging students more than $18,000 to host a campus event is prohibitively expensive speech—not free speech,” said ADF Senior Counsel Philip A. Sechler. “It’s bad enough that the University of Pittsburgh charged ISI and College Republicans an outrageous and unconstitutional security fee simply out of fear about how others might react to a particular viewpoint.
“But it’s worse that the university also encouraged students to disrupt the event and shut it down. This is exactly the type of suppression the First Amendment forbids. Implementing such security fees as part of an attempt to shut down a legitimate campus event is what’s known as a ‘heckler’s veto,’ an action which unconstitutionally allows those who oppose certain speech to censor it simply by protesting it. We urge Pitt officials to swiftly rescind this unlawful fee and amend their policies to protect every student’s freedom of speech.”
On April 18th, the students hosted the event “Should Transgenderism Be Regulated by Law?” The event was to include a moderated debate featuring speakers Michael Knowles and Brad Polumbo.
“In the letter, ADF notes that the university’s own communications prior to the event “incited many in the Pitt Community to violence and substantially contributed to the disruption that caused the event to be prematurely terminated.” For instance, on March 10, the university issued a press release calling the April 18 event “toxic and hurtful for many people in our University community.”
“On March 16, Provost Ann Cudd referred to a recent speech by Knowles as “repugnant” and “hate-filled rhetoric” in a message she sent the Pitt Community. And on April 14, a professor advised her students that “[t]he Theatre Arts department, along with many other departments, students, faculty, and staff at Pitt, strongly condemns this event and has called on the University to cancel Knowles’ appearance due to his history of spreading hate speech and inciting violence against trans people.”
“She added, “Unfortunately, it looks as though the event is still scheduled to take place,” and invited students to participate in “several events planned for Tuesday, April 18, in response to Knowles’ unwelcome presence on campus.”
The police didn’t even keep the street protected. The university allowed the rioters in close proximity. It wasn’t the fault of the police.
So, the university stirs up the radical left, who create havoc, become violent, and riot. Somehow, conservatives have to pay for it. They are to pay for not agreeing with their leftist agenda and for riots caused by the Left.
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Whatever happened to logic?
The ADF offers to let the university rescind its request to avoid a lawsuit. [The university needs to demand money from the rioters.]
I am sick of Pride. Are you?
And I only salute the American flag, how about you?
June is #PrideMonth! The Department of the Air Force proudly recognizes and celebrates generations of LGBTQI+ service members and their contributions to our #AirForce & #SpaceForce. pic.twitter.com/lQi9lH5sdr
— U.S. Air Force (@usairforce) June 7, 2023
wpDiscuz
