Glen Ellyn, Illinois – A Turning Point USA representative and two students at The College of DuPage, were passing out pocket Constitutions, getting a petition signed along with giving away paper flyers simply stating “America is a free speech zone”. One of the free speech participants even wore his “Big Government sucks” t-shirt while exercising his human rights. Then here comes a man with a shiny badge to spoil the party only one day after ‘Constitution Day’.
“You can’t do it out here, otherwise I’m going to have to lock you up.”
Joseph Enders asks the officer, “what are the rules for doing this kind of stuff on campus?”
“You go to the Student Life office, and they give you a permit to do so,” says the cop.
“So you need a permit to …” a student tried to ask, The cop replied, “yeah, because you can’t have everybody out here doing this, otherwise you’d have stuff lined up all along here, everybody having a different view and a different point, so you can’t do that.”
Kara Hamilton, the TPUSA representative, gets into the mix, “So, like, free speech …?”
The misinformed officer answers, “It’s not free speech, ma’am, nobody’s stopping you from free speech, but you can’t solicit out here, and basically you’re soliciting your opinions. Okay? And you need to go get a permit.”
Enders exclaims, “Is it a commodity in any way?, Is speech a commodity?”
The uniformed goon then blabs back, “Well, you’re handing out pamphlets and stuff like that, so that’s exactly what it would mean,” the officer responds. The cop seems to start getting agitated and responds, “why don’t you go talk to Student Life? But you can’t do it out here, otherwise I’m going to have to lock you up. I don’t want it to come to that; like I said, I want you to go in to Student Life.”
Even with a student passer-by saying, “I asked for it, though.” The policeman quickly corrects him with his authoritarian jargon, “They’re soliciting it, I mean, you approached them because they were here doing it. If they weren’t here, you wouldn’t have approached them.”
[adinserter block=”1″]
Enders got his last words in by loudly announcing “You can’t solicit an opinion, An opinion is speech.” The re-education of police officers is a good idea and a wonderful theme for a national campaign of its own. The Bill of Rights that protects some our Human Rights is due for a resurrection in the police departments and academies. Until then, these silly cops will continuously be documented as being bullies and unaware of the violations that they impose on the people they serve based solely on their opinions.
By Andre’ Gabriel Esparza – DontComply.com
22 Comments
Pingback: Public Schools or Public Screwels? | patriotmongoose
Pingback: Disturbing Video Shows Cop Threaten to “Lock Up” College Kids for Handing Out Pocket Constitutions - Counter Current News
Ian Battles
What consequences (if any) will this cop suffer for being wrong about the law?
Pingback: Disturbing Video Shows Cop Threaten to “Lock Up” College Kids for Handing Out Pocket Constitutions | World Liberty News
BobM001
That “cop” is of the variety reminiscent of “Barney Fife”. If he says “You can’t do that” because of some “regulation” then by God he should be able to QUOTE that regulation CHAPTER AND VERSE. Just ANOTHER “LAME LEO”.
Robert Gamble
Even Barney was not that ignorant of our laws.
Matthew Schutter
Who is paying for the college education? The student… Then why do they need permission from the school? I wonder if there were liberals out there protesting for big government would campus safety be called?
The college don’t the message just call campus police to shut them up
Jack Thompson
The question I have is… Is this a public or a private college? If a private college, than it is private property, and they can restrict activities, including speech. If a public college, than they can’t. That simple.
Matthew Schutter
If the college accepts federal grants or student loans then they must honor the students free speech. Tell what private college doesn’t accept student loans or grants?
Jack Thompson
So, I lose all my private property rights if I do business with someone who gets federal subsidies? So, if I am a private grocery store, and one of my customers uses food stamps, and I accept them, means I can’t evict obnoxious individuals from my store?
I think you don’t understand private property rights.
1955KW
It’s not the same issue, Jack. In this case, the college, public or private, is taking federal funds while at the same time denying students of that college the exercise of the rights guaranteed to them by the constitution.
In the scenario you propose, it would not be an issue, since you weren’t preventing those individuals from using their food stamps *because* they were using food stamps, you were evicting them from your store because they were obnoxious.
No one is stepping on your private property rights.
I don’t think *you* understand the idea that a college which takes federal funding has decided it can prevent the exercise of free speech. I know pretty well I’d be screaming at my representatives, asking why they’re funding an entity which attempts to invalidate the rights of citizens.
Sorry to disagree, friend, however I do.
Jack Thompson
perhaps I used the wrong example. Instead, think of a bulletin board at that grocery store. They ask that you go to the manager before you post your “looking for a roommate”, or “bicycle for sale”, or “tea party meeting”, or “democrat caucus night meeting”, This is because as a private bulletin board, they want to make sure the material is not going to harm their business, and will not block out somebody else’s posting that was there first. Are you saying that if they take food stamps, they can’t require manager approval for postings on their bulletin board?
Shawn
I think the issue you’re confusing is receiving federal funding. We’re not talking about student grant money here. Private colleges take direct payments from the federal/state governments, separate from being payed money from students who have grants/scholarships. It’s not the same as someone coming into a store and paying with a SNAP card. Does that make more sense?
Jack Thompson
Which leads us back to my original question. Does this college take funds directly from the feds, or just second hand student financial aid? If only indirectly through student financial aid, they are private, and can make rules restricting what people can do on their property. We have a local college in my area that is 100% privately funded through the Jesuit order of the Catholic Church. I’m sure some students get federal financial aid there, but I know they are not subsidized by the federal, state, or local government in any way.
Shawn
I think that, in that case, they are exempt from these kinds of rules. But I’m not a lawyer. I just play one on TV.
1955KW
You’re still not getting it, Jack.
Again, your analogy isn’t apt. The bulletin board at a grocery store is under the complete control of the management and ownership of the store. Their acceptance of food stamps is irrelevant, and has no bearing on what they will allow on the board.
The college, on the other hand, by accepting federal funds, is under the mandate to make no restriction on exercise of constitutionally guaranteed rights. The case law on this is extensive, and all of it falls against the position of the colleges.
The ridiculous and draconian “speech codes” that some colleges are using have been defeated with severe financial penalties to the institutions every time they’ve been challenged in court.
Cheers.
Jack Thompson
You still haven’t answered the original question. Does this college accept federal funds or not? My local Jesuit Univesity does not. And I fully expect them to tell atheists and satanists and even baptists that might be passing out literature on their campus to go take a hike. Not all universities take funds directly.
1955KW
Look closer Jack. I’ll lay you 8 to 5 odds that the local Jesuit school has at least a few students there who’re paying for college with federal school loans. I’d be shocked if there were more than 10% of the colleges in the country that don’t take federal funds.
Jack Thompson
You just said that what the store allows on it’s bulletin board is not connected to whether it accepts food stamps from customers. That is not the same as getting direct federal funding. Likewise, just because you have students that are getting federal loans, that shouldn’t have any relevance to what the Jesuit school allows on their campus unless they are taking funds directly. By your logic, the federal government can ban all property rights because we all use federal reserve debt notes.
Michael Anthony
The people who decide to become cops usually don’t have the IQ to go further than an AA degree. They certainly couldn’t have made it in law school, or in any other profession where logic and intelligence are pre-requisites. Many of them tried to go further than community college but just couldn’t cut it, and figured the police force was their last best option before resorting to Home Depot or Wal-Mart. So as the cream rises to the top, the C and D students end up on the police force. This is why these people rarely know the law, much less understand it.
Phoenix Horton
Yup, that also reminds me of a similar situation where they told us we had to have a permit, we stood our ground and won! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dY37YCAp_k
Sarah Mangeno
The requirements to become a cop are:
1. High school diploma or GED
2. Must be a legal US citizen
3. No felonies
4. Possess a valid, unrestricted drivers license
That’s it! No degree required and they hire people with an average to low IQ. This is why they don’t know the laws. They do as they please and make up laws as they go knowing it is unlikely that there will be any consequences.