Student protesters were caught on camera shutting down a meeting of UC Santa Cruz’s College Republicans chapter.
A group of UC Santa Cruz students organized an effort to derail a meeting of the school’s College Republicans chapter. The group detailed their intentions to shut down the group’s “right of assembly” in a post on Facebook.
“White Supremacist, fascist-sympathizing College Republicans are having a meeting at McHenry library, room 0332. Everybody be aware of this violent racist activity happening everyday on this campus!” one student wrote, adding, “We need a movement of people on this campus that rejects the ‘right of assembly,’ or ‘right of free speech’ for white supremacists and fascists.”
The protesters disrupted the meeting by banging on the door, eventually barging their way in and calling the chapter members, “fascists,” “racists,” and “white supremacists.”
“Your existence is a disturbance,” one protester shouted. “Your existence is a disturbance to every marginalized person in this country.”
The student targeted as a “disturbance” claimed that he was a registered Democrat who simply came to the College Republicans to engage in conversation, which he argued is the purpose of college.
“When the protesters came in, we all just wanted to talk with them. We didn’t want there to be any trouble, and since we enjoy debate, they would’ve been welcome to talk,” UC Santa Cruz College Republican President Brandon Lang said in a statement. Despite his concern over the disruption, he added that he “wasn’t surprised when they continued their chanting, as they made it obvious from the outset that they weren’t there to talk.”
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