This letter reflects the opinions of construction management junior Roberta Martin. Letters to the editor do not reflect the opinion or editorial coverage of Mustang News.
This Thursday at Cal Poly, three speakers will participate in a panel discussion on fake news. One of these speakers will be Milo Yiannopoulos, and because of his presence, there are expected to be protests around the event, and some of them may be violent.
When Yiannopoulos was due to speak at University of California, Berkeley last year, Leftist protesters vandalized the campus, pepper sprayed people standing in line and beat more than one person unconscious. This Leftist aggression is not an exception, but simply the most vicious example of the rule: the Left has become so intolerant of dissenting ideas that they are willing to commit violent acts against anyone who disagrees with them.
Last year when Milo came to this campus, the protests were small and mostly tame, but our campus had to be prepared for the possibility that a group like By Any Means Necessary (who were in the habit of stabbing people at the time) might show up looking for blood. In order to be sure that our students would be safe, the police were forced to incur some $50,000 in security expenses, and this year will likely be similar in cost; this is the price required for the extent of manpower, physical barriers and additional support needed to keep Leftist terrorists from harming students.
Somehow, there are people using this figure as a reason to curtail free speech on campus: this misses the point completely. Our University Police has to spend tens of thousands of dollars on these events to keep CONSERVATIVE students safe from LEFTIST VIOLENCE. The only people to blame for tensions surrounding Cal Poly College Republicans’ events on this campus are the Leftists who are so morally corrupt, intellectually intolerant and irredeemably arrogant that they believe violence is the appropriate response to a Republican speaking on campus.
Just to be clear: beating someone up for political reasons is morally despicable, and is also considered battery — which (depending on the severity of injuries) is punishable by six months to four years in prison.
The level of irrationality, violence, defamation and complete delusion that Leftist protesters have exhibited in response to Republican speakers should be a source of extreme shame for all Democrats and Liberals who have some regard for decency and reason. Moreover, while the Cal Poly administration has demonstrated a truly admirable stance on free speech — which applies to the College Republicans and the protesters alike — they are now confronted with the beginnings of an anti-free speech movement promoted by a small but obtrusive faction of students who not only believe that offensive words are the equivalent of a personal attack, but also that every instance of self-expression that they do not agree with must be punished, prevented or destroyed. Such ambitions cannot be appeased, and in fact, those who try to do so will only contribute to the momentum of this insanity and oppression. What we are talking about is mob rule in miniature. These “protesters” are not here to make known their grievances, but to instate their own demands — riddled identity politics, anti-Semitism and the invasion of essential liberties. These people, who want speakers to be forced off the campus by violence if necessary, are fascists and a disgrace to the very Constitution that allows them to protest in the first place.
Violent, obstructive demonstrators are a threat to free dialogue, the spirit of education and the safety of students. Such people cannot be allowed to threaten our campus without consequence. Our administration must enact a policy of zero tolerance for violence and obstruction of free speech. Anyone who commits, assists, supports, plans or encourages an act of violence on this campus must be arrested by University Police for assault and expelled from the school immediately. Cal Poly need never reach the level of insanity that has plagued UC Berkeley, but if we do not make a decision right now to take an active stand against Leftist terrorism, then the devolution is inevitable.
Everyone on this campus has the right to come see the Fake News Panel Thursday, listen to the speakers and ask questions during the designated time period. Everyone on this campus has the right to stand outside the event holding signs and shouting whatever they want in opposition of Republican views. No one has the right to attack another person on the basis of disparate political views or perceived offense. No one has the right to threaten violence as a means for achieving the prior restraint of someone else’s free speech.
*This letter has been edited for clarity.