Anyone hear about this?
I'd been thinking of attending that night. I wish I would have.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/loca...p-385995c.html
Minuteman college talk gets violent
BY JIMMY VIELKIND
DAILY NEWS WRITER
Thursday, October 5th, 2006
The border wars came to Columbia University last night when student protesters clashed on stage with a staunch anti-immigrant advocate.
Jim Gilchrist, the founder of the Minuteman Project, spoke for less than two minutes before students from Columbia's Chicano Caucus walked onstage with a banner proclaiming "Say No to Racism." Members of the audience tried to join them - sparking a melee.
As they chanted the Pledge of Allegiance, Minuteman supporters attempted to seize the banner while others restrained more students from rushing the stage, witnesses said.
Punches and kicks were thrown, but no one was seriously injured, witnesses said.
The Columbia College Republicans, who sponsored the speech, called the protest a "precoordinated attack." But protesters contend it was the Minuteman who became violent.
"We didn't touch anyone," said Karina GarcĂ*a, a senior and member of the university's Chicano Caucus. "When they brought this speaker, this was an attack on our community and our families. Wesimply expressed our right to freedom of speech."
The California-based Minutemen have drawn controversy for patrolling the Mexican border to enforce immigration laws.
"The goal of the speech was to bring an issue to the forefront of scholarly debate at Columbia. That failed miserably," said Chris Kulawik, a junior who serves as the president of the College Republicans.
"I thought this was an Ivy League institution. It was quite embarrassing as a Columbia student."
Robert Hornsby, a Columbia spokesman, said the university "deplores the disruption that took place."
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Ongoing coverage from the inside can be found at
http://www.bwog.net/
Honestly, what did they expect? If you bring a group like the Minuteman Project to campus, you aren't getting "rational discourse," anyway.
Sure, we just provided more ammo for Campus Watch, but I'm pretty sure this would have happened regardless of where they spoke.