Police are totally out of control in this country.

#10

Flagged funny by lfthndthrds

Here's a segment from this morning about Columbia:

Deputy Commissioner Tarik Sheppard shows the chains used to secure Hamilton Hall at Columbia University.

"This is not what students bring to school. This is what professionals bring to campuses and universities."

Except the University sells those chains at a discount to students.

I considered one of their cars a couple of years ago. I'm so very glad I didn't buy one.

Then it sure seems like you're wiling to give the benefit of the doubt to outside agitators on the pro-zionist side but not for the pro-Pals. That's a shame.

I posted another thread about this already, but here you go, Gal.

Still more: "UCLA supports peaceful protest, but not activism that harms our ability to carry out our academic mission and makes people in our community feel bullied, threatened and afraid," he wrote. He added that the incidents had put many on campus, "especially our Jewish students," in a state of anxiety and fear.

High levels of fear also have been reported by pro-Palestinian students, which Block did not mention " an omission that outraged some campus members.

"It is quite shocking and demoralizing that the chancellor notes only the antisemitism faced by Jewish students when in fact there has been a significant number of incidents of racism and violence against Palestinians, Muslims and in fact anyone considered a supporter of Palestinian rights," said Sherene Razack, a professor of gender studies.

The "Palestinian Solidarity Encampment," which was set up Thursday, said in a statement that "Zionist aggressors," most of them not UCLA students, had been "incessantly verbally and physically harassing us, violently trying to storm the camp, and threatening us with weapons." But campus security did nothing to protect them, the statement said.

The group decried UCLA's move to end the encampment as a "cowardly intimidation tactic" and a "continuation of a long history of attempts to shut down student activism and silence pro-Palestinian voices."

More: "Horrific acts of violence occurred at the encampment tonight and we immediately called law enforcement for mutual aid support. The fire department and medical personnel are on the scene. We are sickened by this senseless violence and it must end," Mary Osako, vice chancellor for UCLA Strategic Communications, said in a statement.

At around 1:40 a.m., police officers in riot gear arrived, and some counterprotesters began to leave. But the police did not immediately break up the clashes at the camp, which continued despite the law enforcement presence.

At around 3 a.m., a line of officers arrived at the camp and pushed the remaining counter-protesters out of the quad area. The police told people to leave or face arrest.

Some on campus said they were stunned it took so long before officials stepped in to stop the clashes.

Ananya Roy, a professor of urban planning, social welfare and geography, condemned UCLA's lack of response to the counterprotesters.

"It gives people impunity to come to our campus as a rampaging mob," she said early Wednesday. "The word is out they can do this repeatedly and get away with it. I am ashamed of my university."

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass condemned the violence, saying on X it was "absolutely abhorrent and inexcusable."

Speaking of people not affiliated with colleges: On Wednesday, Tsives claimed that a counter-protest movement that broke up a Pro-Palestine protest encampment comprised local individuals who were not students at the Brentwood campus.

"The reason why this is happening is because Jews in L.A. have had enough," Tsives told Fox & Friends. "They've seen how these pro-Hamas protesters are treating Jewish students on campus. And they said, fine if the UCLA administration is not going to do anything if LAPD is not going to do anything, we're going to do something about it."

"It looks like some guys went down there and just started ripping down the campus themselves, and they felt with resistance," Brian Kilmeade followed. "This thing went on, it looked like, for about two hours."

"I saw people throwing things at each other. There was, like you mentioned, the removal of barricades," the UCLA student replied. "And I had the opportunity to talk with some of these protesters, and they said the main reason they were doing this was to attract police. They said they wanted L.A. police to arrive so they could finally go inside the encampment and start making arrests."

"So we know that, as you just described, the people in the encampment have been the pro-Palestine group," Steve Doocy followed. "And then the counter-protesters came in, but it's unclear who exactly they are. Are you saying they were Jewish students? Jewish people? Who were they?"

"I can confidently say that they are not UCLA students," Tsives replied. "The average age of those people was around 26, 27, 28, nine. They were all a lot older, and they were just L.A. residents, Jewish L.A. residents that have noticed how these pro-Hamas protesters were treating Jewish students at UCLA. And they said enough is enough. If, like I mentioned before, if the administration's not going to do anything, we're going to do something about it."

Hamas is a hate organization

100% true.

What I do have a problem with pro-Hamas protestors and a lot of them are just that

Are you sure about that? Or have you just been told that by people who seek to demonize the pro-Palestinian cause?

I'm not saying you're wrong, just that narratives aren't always what they seem. Lots of folks would have you believe that anything that is anti-zionist is inherently anti-Semitic, they are wrong. Palestinians are Semitic people BTW.

NPR's Code Switch did a great show about American Jews speaking out on Israel last week. It's worth a listen if you've got the time.

Are the outside agitators in these protests the same boogeyman as Antifa was during the BLM protests?

Another thing to distract us while police brutally crack down on dissent.

Where in the constitution does it say you have to be "affiliated with the college" to use your first amendment rights?

Some great pics of 4/30/1968 from HuffPO. I wonder how many of those kids were "affiliated with the college."

When institutions handle things in an adult manner it really highlight how ridiculous it is when others call in riot cops to terrorize and beat people for exercising constitutionally protected rights.

"45 people who were not affiliated with the university"

That's a red herring.

Texas has a law explicitly allowing anyone to use college campuses for free speech activities regardless of their affiliation, or lack thereof, with the university. They did it to allow bible beaters and anti-choice activists to have free reign and are reaping the fruits of that labor.

"Time to recognize that, at least in some places, these are not your grandfather's protests. Counter protesters, outside agitators, the potential for foreign influence all complicate today's protests."

The exact same things were said about "your grandfather's protests."

More: The DEA's proposal, which still must be reviewed by the White House Office of Management and Budget, would recognize the medical uses of cannabis and acknowledge it has less potential for abuse than some of the nation's most dangerous drugs. However, it would not legalize marijuana outright for recreational use.

The agency's move, confirmed to the AP on Tuesday by five people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive regulatory review, clears the last significant regulatory hurdle before the agency's biggest policy change in over 50 years can take effect.

Once OMB signs off, the DEA will take public comment on the plan to move marijuana from its current classification as a Schedule I drug, alongside heroin and LSD. It moves pot to Schedule III, alongside ketamine and some anabolic steroids, following a recommendation from the federal Health and Human Services Department. After the public-comment period the agency would publish the final rule.

Colleges have not gone off the deep end. Protests and college campuses go together like peanut butter and jelly. Some of you old farts that lived through the 60s and 70s have selective or failing memories if you think these young people who are practicing their constitutionally guaranteed rights of freedom of speech and assembly are doing something new.

"Only the best people."

I can't believe we aren't hearing the shooter was a trans.

He was black, that explains everything as far as conservatives are concerned.

But we've been told for years that guns don't kill people?!? /s

Aren't the PGA and LIV owned by the same entity now?

As a heavily tattooed person my reaction to this is, she should have thought about that before the face and neck tattoos - things we used to call 'job stoppers' - and putting 3 pounds of metal in her face.

More: GRM is a Christian ministry that requires all residents to work for them without pay for "six hours a day, six days a week in exchange for a bunk for 30 days." They also cannot look for outside work during that month. That's not all though. They must also attend church every Sunday (from a pre-approved list); Unitarian services are not acceptable. And they have to attend a chapel service twice a day. And they can't smoke or drink. And they can't have sex during their stay.

What if you're disabled or have medical or mental health problems that prevent you from attending church? What if you aren't Christian? What if you just don't want to participate in the religious activities? Too bad. You can't stay at their shelter.

That's why the plaintiffs argued they had no realistic options in the city.

In their brief supporting the city, they argued that the city's inability to punish the homeless (because of earlier court decisions) "has significantly decreased the number of people who access the Mission's services," as if that's a bad thing.

Municipal public safety laws are a crucial tool in helping the homeless take advantage of available safe shelter resources. Taking away cities' power to enforce those laws, as the Ninth Circuit has done here, does not benefit the homeless as that court evidently hoped. Instead, it has only hindered the efforts of those in Grants Pass who devote each day to bettering the lives of those facing homelessness.

They're calling for the city to fine and jail the homeless in the hopes that they become the only alternative for anyone seeking to avoid punishment. When you see yourself as the antidote, you start to root for poison.

It's telling that there's literally zero mention of "God" anywhere in the brief"which is rather unusual for a Christian group making an argument to the Supreme Court. Especially this Supreme Court. The argument isn't a religious one because how could it be? The ministry says they have beds available, but for various reasons, many of them are going unused. They must know how bad it would look to justify the cruelty against the homeless using the language of faith. Yet they seem blissfully unaware of how their own religious restrictions may play a significant role in why people with no other options still don't want to ask them for help.

It also raises additional questions, as Nye writes:

It may be well-intentioned, but GRM's plea raises serious legal and theological questions. If the Rescue Mission"the only option in town"can shelter just 138 people, how can the government criminalize all 1,200 people experiencing homelessness in the city? Do Christian organizations have a theological mandate, or even a justification, for forcing religious programming in exchange for shelter and care? Can the government compel homeless people to stay at a shelter that has strict religious requirements without infringing further on their constitutional rights?

The Christian shelter isn't, and cannot be, the city's only viable option here. The long-term solutions have to involve mental health care, addiction specialists, affordable housing, and secular shelters, not just banishing people from the city. But right now, the city isn't giving homeless people secular, safe places to stay. Instead, Grants Pass is arguing that the options provided are more than enough and the only alternative is to further punish people who are already struggling to survive, making it that much harder for them to get back up on their feet.

It's completely insane logic. And the one Christian ministry directly involved in the case is going all in on the side of More Cruelty.