An antisemitic protest came to the University of Texas-Austin on Wednesday. A well-organized protest began in the morning and continued well into the night.
There are reports that two members of the media were arrested. I saw on social media that a local Fox affiliate’s photojournalist was taken away by police. The other report is that a CBS Austin news crew was “pushed and shoved.” I haven’t seen specifics on a second arrest.
Here is Carlos, the Fox 7 photojournalist.
🚨#BREAKING: A Fox 7 News photojournalist has been thrown to the ground and arrested by police while covering a live broadcast during the protest at the University of Texas⁰
📌#Austin | #Texas ⁰
Amidst the chaotic scenes that was unfolding earlier this evening at the University… pic.twitter.com/7fTsDReI6r— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) April 24, 2024
Carlos was charged with criminal trespassing.
Video footage posted on YouTube by FOX 7 Austin shows the photographer taking footage of the moment law enforcement began pushing back the protest line, resulting in the photographer being pushed into an officer. A Texas Department of Public Safety trooper pulled him backward before detaining him, according to FOX 7 Austin.
In another clip shared on X, formerly Twitter, the photographer identified himself as Carlos and said that he was being pushed and was told he had hit an officer. When asked if this has ever happened and if he told troopers he was a journalist, Carlos said, “No, this has never happened to me. I was just covering things and they were pushing. Yeah, I told him that I was the press. This one says I was hitting an officer. I was not hitting nobody.”
JUST IN: Our photographer has been charged with criminal trespassing. @fox7austin https://t.co/vgLBhQHUm0
— Meredith Aldis (@MeredithonFOX7) April 25, 2024
More than 500 students walked out of classes on Wednesday to join an anti-Israel protest. The plan called for setting up an encampment on the South Lawn. It was organized by the Palestine Solidarity Committee, a group singled out in an executive order earlier this month by Governor Abbott. The EO required schools “to revise their free speech policies to punish what he described as “the sharp rise in antisemitic speech and acts on university campuses.”
The UT protest was handled differently than other campus protests that are seen in news coverage. There was a heavy presence of Department of Public Safety (DPS) officers in riot gear and campus police from the beginning. Horses were used to control the crowd.
University officials told the students to cancel their protest on Tuesday night. They were warned that there would be consequences if needed.
About 34 protesters were arrested Wednesday. Outside agitators joined the students during the protest so it is unclear if all those arrested were students.
Governor Abbott supported law enforcement during the protest. “Students joining in hate-filled, antisemitic protests at any public college or university in Texas should be expelled,” he wrote.
Arrests being made right now & will continue until the crowd disperses.
These protesters belong in jail.
Antisemitism will not be tolerated in Texas. Period.
Students joining in hate-filled, antisemitic protests at any public college or university in Texas should be expelled. https://t.co/XhLlQdvUl0
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) April 24, 2024
Why isn’t the Governor of New York speaking out against the protests on New York campuses? Is it because there is an active Hamas-friendly wing of the Democrat Party?
Democrats in Texas criticized the work of law enforcement.
State Rep. Gina Hinojosa, D-Austin, said the arrests were “out of hand” if there wasn’t an actual threat of violence.
“In normal times when I was a student I was in a ‘sit in’ [with Rev. Jesse Jackson] INSIDE the actual UT law school and administration just ignored us,” she said on X.
Things are handled differently in Texas.
UT-Austin spokesperson Brian Davis told student protesters that law enforcement was called in because the Palestine Solidarity Committee had advertised that classes would be canceled. The pro-Palestine group did not use that language when it encouraged students to participate in the walkout in an Instagram post Tuesday. The group encouraged demonstrators to wear masks, which Davis said is a violation of university policy.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick joined Abbott in criticizing the protest, pointing to an Instagram post from the organizers about plans to establish “THE POPULAR UNIVERSITY FOR GAZA.”
“This is delusional. We have big problems on our college campuses,” Patrick said on X. “In Texas, we won’t allow antisemitic, pro-Hamas protesters to take control of our universities.”
Patrick has identified combating antisemitism on Texas college campuses, while protecting First Amendment rights, as a priority for next year’s legislative session.
UT Austin President Jay Hartzell sent out a letter to students and staff at around 9 p.m. “Our University will not be occupied.”
This has been a challenging day for many. We have witnessed much activity we normally do not experience on our campus, and there is understandably a lot of emotion surrounding these events.
Today, our University held firm, enforcing our rules while protecting the Constitutional right to free speech. Peaceful protests within our rules are acceptable. Breaking our rules and policies and disrupting others’ ability to learn are not allowed. The group that led this protest stated it was going to violate Institutional Rules. Our rules matter, and they will be enforced. Our University will not be occupied.
The protesters tried to deliver on their stated intent to occupy campus. People not affiliated with UT joined them, and many ignored University officials’ continual pleas for restraint and to immediately disperse. The University did as we said we would do in the face of prohibited actions. We were prepared, with the necessary support to maintain campus operations and ensure the safety, well-being and learning environment for our more than 50,000 students.
We are grateful for the countless staff members and state and University law enforcement officers, as well as support personnel who exercised extraordinary restraint in the face of a difficult situation that is playing out at universities across the country. There is a way to exercise freedom of speech and civil discourse, and our Office of the Dean of Students has continued to offer ways to ensure protests can happen within the rules. The University of Texas will continue to take necessary steps so that all our University functions proceed without interruption.
In summary, the students were warned of what would happen in advance if the protest went off as planned. The university was prepared to maintain security. A show of force was used to enforce university rules. Some protesters were arrested. The encampment was not set up on the South Lawn. The governor supported law enforcement.
This is how student protests should be handled on college campuses that promote antisemitic messages and potential violence. The grown-ups have to remain in charge.
God bless Texas.