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posted by martyb on Wednesday October 18 2017, @09:18PM   Printer-friendly
from the what-if-nobody-showed-up? dept.

Governor Rick Scott (R) has declared a state of emergency in the county where the University of Florida lay, due to a planned speech by Richard Spencer. According to NPR:

When Hurricane Irma was bearing down on Florida last month, Gov. Rick Scott declared a state of emergency. On Monday, he did the same thing in Alachua County, ahead of a speech by white nationalist Richard Spencer at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

"We live in a country where everyone has the right to voice their opinion, however, we have zero tolerance for violence and public safety is always our number one priority," Scott said in a statement. "This executive order is an additional step to ensure that the University of Florida and the entire community is prepared so everyone can stay safe."

"I find that the threat of a potential emergency is imminent," Scott declared in his executive order, noting that Alachua County Sheriff Sadie Darnell had requested the state's assistance. The order will make it easier for various agencies to coordinate a security plan for Thursday's speech at the university.

[...] No campus group invited Spencer to speak, and the university is not hosting or sponsoring the event. Spencer's group, the National Policy Institute, is paying the university $10,564 for facility rental and security.

And it looks like it could get expensive:

The speech and accompanying protests are also a major expense: The university as well as state and local agencies expect to spend more than $500,000 to provide additional security.

And the University of Florida can't demand that Spencer pay the full cost of protecting him, because of a 1992 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Forsyth County v. Nationalist Movement.

In that decision, the university explains, "the Court clarified that the government cannot assess a security fee on the speaker based upon the costs of controlling the reaction of potential hostile onlookers or protestors," under legal doctrine known as the "heckler's veto."

Well, that is the cost of free speech in a free country.


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  • (Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 18 2017, @10:09PM (4 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 18 2017, @10:09PM (#584179)

    Your troll filters have given you a dead lead. No one accused anyone of being a Nazi. Not one mention of the word or even hints that anyone is/might be/wants to be/pretends to be a Nazi.

    Starting Score:    0  points
    Moderation   +2  
       Flamebait=1, Insightful=1, Informative=2, Total=4
    Extra 'Informative' Modifier   0  

    Total Score:   2  
  • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 18 2017, @10:13PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 18 2017, @10:13PM (#584183)

    You forget, these people got themselves implanted with tiny radios so they can listen to talk radio 24/7, he probably just forgot to turn it off while posting here.

  • (Score: 1) by Sulla on Wednesday October 18 2017, @10:15PM (2 children)

    by Sulla (5173) on Wednesday October 18 2017, @10:15PM (#584187) Journal

    Original post: Something the left would call a nazi
    Response: You keep acting like a nazi you are going to get punched
    OPR: Fine them punch me
    Response: Ha I knew you were a Nazi

    I presume others read it the same way, if incorrect please inform me of actual breakdown.

    --
    Ceterum censeo Sinae esse delendam
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 18 2017, @10:34PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 18 2017, @10:34PM (#584203)

      OP: Look, I'm not 'touching' you! You can't do anything! I dare you to do something about it!
      Response: Don't keep daring as someone might actually do it
      OPR: Oh you want me to punch you? where are you?
      Response: You are a child.
      You: NAZI!!!!!!

      Try again Vlad

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 19 2017, @10:03AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 19 2017, @10:03AM (#584454)

        How is that person a child for mocking the stupidity of asserting that someone else is telling others to punch them when they're not actually saying any such thing? If you can interpret someone's words as saying 'Please punch me!' when they didn't say such a thing in one scenario, then you can do it in any scenario. Pointing that out is not childish.