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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: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 18 2017, @10:25PM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 18 2017, @10:25PM (#584194)

    At these particular events the violence is NOT 100% on one side...it takes two to tango.

    Also, I would say there are more right wingers battering people like Gays, Jews, Muslims around the country than there are left wingers going to their favorite young hitler meeting and beating people up.

  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Thexalon on Wednesday October 18 2017, @10:54PM (4 children)

    by Thexalon (636) on Wednesday October 18 2017, @10:54PM (#584219)

    At these particular events the violence is NOT 100% on one side...it takes two to tango.

    So far, the body count has been entirely on the side of those who don't like the fascists, alt-right, or whatever else you want to call them.

    --
    The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 18 2017, @11:13PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday October 18 2017, @11:13PM (#584238)
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 19 2017, @03:11AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 19 2017, @03:11AM (#584347)

      Really? Please do give us names and links to reputable news sources that back your extraordinary claim. I look forward to your empty reply!

    • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 19 2017, @01:43PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday October 19 2017, @01:43PM (#584533)

      They have been clubbing people with flag poles and heavy bike locks. It's a wonder nobody has died from the conflict yet, but several of the alt-right have had ended up on the hospital.

      Yep, nobody. The death in Charlottesville was not caused by either side.

      At least we finally have an Antifa dude facing felony charges for assault with a deadly weapon. It ought to be charges for attempted murder. He was bringing a giant U-shaped bike lock down on the heads of multiple people at multiple protests.

      • (Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Friday October 20 2017, @04:29AM

        by realDonaldTrump (6614) on Friday October 20 2017, @04:29AM (#585107) Homepage Journal

        Some helicopters are lemons. They crash for many, many reasons. The spark plugs can come loose. The rotors can come loose. Believe me, I know. I've lost a lot of guys that way. When both rotors fell off the helicopter. Believe me, a helicopter without its rotors is very difficult to fly. The helicopter in Charlottesville was a lemon. It crashed, they repaired it, it crashed again. And two brave law enforcement officers died. They knew what they were getting into. They knew what they signed up for. Some people say, "oh, Heather Heyer, Heather Heyer!" These are foolish people. We lost two brave officers. And I blame both sides. There's blame on both sides. #BlueLivesMatter 🇺🇸