Leftist students at the University of Texas at Austin attempted to shut down a conservative student group’s event on Tuesday, labeling their conservative classmates “enemies.”
The event was hosted by the university’s Turning Point USA (TPUSA) chapter, and featured English media personality Katie Hopkins as the speaker.
Student groups United Students Against Sweatshops, Autonomous Student Network-UT Austin, and Solidarity 6.04, tried to shut down the event, which resulted in two arrests on Tuesday night.
In a Facebook video uploaded by TPUSA member Anthony Dolcefino, protesters can be heard sounding alarms and repeatedly shouting “Shame!” as Hopkins was being escorted out of the building by police.
“Local Austin Antifa members showed up to protest the event with sirens, shouting, and attempts at harming the speaker and attendees,” said Dolcefino to Breitbart News, “Thankfully, there were a couple dozen police at the scene to protect attendees and facilitate a smooth transition out of the venue.”
“Free speech is the antidote to political violence — in this tumultuous climate, we need so much more of it,” added Dolcefino.
“Do not engage in dialogue with our enemies,” read a Facebook event page offering advice to Leftists on how to conduct an Antifa-style protest, “The goal of this protest is, to whatever degree possible, de-platform and counter Katie Hopkins’s event. Whether through drowning out or shutting down the event, this is our basic goal as an antifascist action.”
“Do not try to talk to or debate members of Turning Point USA — This is a space for confrontation, not dialogue.”
“Do not talk to or enable the police,” included the event’s description, anticipating potential arrests, “Protect each other from police repression as much as possible — Do not help the police in repressing those who use different [protest] tactics from you.”
The description was not clear about which specific “tactics” they were referring to, but concluded with: “Be as safe as you want to be.”
Despite arrests, the self-proclaimed “anti-fascists” seemed pleased with their ability to “drown out” and censor speech from those whom they disagree with on campus.
“People inside could barely hear Hopkins speak,” gloated the Leftists on Facebook the following day, “Katie Hopkins had to flee behind a wall of cops, and the other young fascists were trapped inside momentarily before being freed by the pigs — let’s make sure that whenever these folks organize on campus, they have to run away behind a line of cops.”
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Twitter at @ARmastrangelo and on Instagram.
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