Nowhere in America is free speech under attack more than our colleges and universities, which ironically, should be the best places in America to openly express and have a constructive dialogue over opposing views and opinions.
Four Texas State University students were arrested Wednesday after a conservative student says one of them grabbed a “Make America Great Again” hat off his head and later kicked it as it lay on the ground.
Tyler M., a Texas State University freshman, told Campus Reform by phone that he was the one wearing the MAGA hat as the incident, captured on video, unfolded. Tyler M. asked that his last name not be revealed out of fear that he could be doxxed or otherwise targeted.
Tyler M. told Campus Reform that just before the incident took place, he and some friends had walked over to an area on campus where a leftist group was counter-protesting the anticipated protest of a conservative biker group.
The biker group had planned a protest at Texas State University over the student government’s failed attempt in April to ban the conservative group Turning Point USA from campus, the Austin Statesman reported. According to a Wednesday statement from the university, Texas Nomads SAR never showed.
As the conversation between Tyler M. and the leftist protesters continued, a crowd gathered around them; Tyler M. told Campus Reform.
“Again, none of our conservative people were ever instigating anything,” Tyler M. said. “I can guarantee that. No one was ever yelling or shouting over people. We were all very patient.”
At another point, he said that he “just wanted to talk” with the protesters. Tyler M. said that as bystanders tried to quell the tension, “that’s when I felt someone kind of come up behind me and kind of grab my hat, lift it up, and try to run away.”
Tyler M. said he chased after the girl and grabbed her backpack to slow her down. He told Campus Reform that he only touched her backpack. – Campus Reform
“I only held her [backpack] for a good five seconds…it was never her physically,” Tyler M. said. “As soon as I got out of the crowd, I let go of her bag, and I came up beside her, and I said, ‘can you please give me back my hat?'”
When the police arrived, they approached the girl with the victim’s MAGA hat, at which point she dropped and kicked the hat.
The police can be seen arresting the girl in the purple shirt without incident. The girl dressed in black with a hood covering her head and her face covered by a black handkerchief can be seen resisting arrest, as police are forced to restrain her as they place handcuffs on her. The tough girl dressed in black and one of their (brave) friends can be seen crying like babies when they realize they are about to have to pay for their crime of assaulting an innocent person simply because they hold political views they don’t agree with.
The best line in the video comes when the police officer asks the male student if he wants to press charges, and he says, “yes.”
Watch:
The Young Democratic Socialists of America chapter at Texas State tweeted shortly after the arrests, “don’t cuff students, cuff the haters.”
#TXSTinjustice pic.twitter.com/eNy7YF2LnC
— YDSA @ TXST 🌹 (@TXSTYDSA) May 1, 2019
The incident comes as the Texas state legislature is debating a campus free speech bill, which Republican Rep. Briscoe Cain helped spearhead.
What do you think? Should these girls have been arrested? Should law enforcement be treating the violation of students’ First Amendment Rights as seriously as any other crime committed on campus? Tell us what you think in the comment section below. We’d love to hear what you think.