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posted by Fnord666 on Thursday February 15 2018, @03:09PM   Printer-friendly
from the the-cost-of-free-speech dept.

From Cleveland.com:

CINCINNATI (AP) -- Kent State University, facing the threat of a lawsuit, reiterated on Friday that it cannot accommodate a request to allow white nationalist Richard Spencer to speak in early May as part of his campus tour.

The university, which is based in Kent but has regional campuses elsewhere in the state, said it had responded to attorney Kyle Bristow reaffirming its earlier response that no suitable space is available for Spencer to speak between April 30 and May 12.

Bristow had told Kent State it had until the end of business Friday to agree to rent space at an "acceptable date and time" or face a lawsuit. Several other schools, including Ohio State University and the University of Cincinnati, are in litigation over Spencer.

Tour organizer Cameron Padgett wanted Spencer to speak at Kent State on the May 4 anniversary of Ohio National Guard shootings that killed four students during anti-war protests in 1970. The university said early May is too busy with activities around the end of the academic year.

Bristow said last year that Spencer planned to speak March 14 on the University of Cincinnati campus, but the university said there was no contract in place, and the two sides are now in a legal standoff over the university's demand for a security fee of nearly $11,000.


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  • (Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 15 2018, @08:33PM (9 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 15 2018, @08:33PM (#638425)

    Spencer has no right to security paid for by taxpayers, when he is causing the need for security in the first place!

    This is like saying that the city has provide me a squad of police officers to protect me when I walk up to a gang of bikers, and call them all "faggots".

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  • (Score: 2) by arcz on Thursday February 15 2018, @09:00PM (5 children)

    by arcz (4501) on Thursday February 15 2018, @09:00PM (#638439) Journal
    Wrong. He has a right to speak. The hecklers are causing the problem, not Spencer.
    • (Score: -1, Spam) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 15 2018, @09:11PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 15 2018, @09:11PM (#638443)

      Faggot!

    • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday February 15 2018, @10:07PM (1 child)

      by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Thursday February 15 2018, @10:07PM (#638465) Journal

      He has a right to speak.

      He does not have a right for force any venue to let him speak there.

      He can to on FoxNews or InfoWars or wherever like minded people go. I'm sure they will welcome him with open arms.

      --
      People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
      • (Score: 1, Troll) by arcz on Sunday February 18 2018, @07:59PM

        by arcz (4501) on Sunday February 18 2018, @07:59PM (#639790) Journal
        Actually the issue is that if the university allows anyone to rent out the space, they can't selectively deny it.
    • (Score: 1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 15 2018, @10:32PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 15 2018, @10:32PM (#638480)

      So he needs protection from people heckling? Shouldn't use a public venue then. Damn bigots are the most sensitive little shits around.

      • (Score: 2) by Wootery on Friday February 16 2018, @12:11PM

        by Wootery (2341) on Friday February 16 2018, @12:11PM (#638778)

        So he needs protection from people heckling?

        Yes. Anyone who tries to shout over a talk, should be escorted out by security. No-one seems to have the balls to actually do this, unfortunately - this childish misbehaviour is increasingly becoming normalised. I don't see that this changes just because it's a public institution. What would you expect to happen if you started screaming over the judge in court?

        Picket outside, or even at the back of the lecture hall, but you don't get to shout over the speaker then whine if you get removed.

  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 15 2018, @10:20PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 15 2018, @10:20PM (#638470)

    when he is causing the need for security in the first place!

    The people who would do violence are causing the need for security.

    This is like saying that the city has provide me a squad of police officers to protect me when I walk up to a gang of bikers, and call them all "faggots".

    You do not have a right to physically assault others just because you're offended by their speech, so yes, police officers should protect you if that biker gang attempts to assault you. Take responsibility for your own actions.

    Oh, and the "fighting words" standard was invented entirely by the courts. It makes literally zero sense to blame a speaker because someone else make the individual decision to assault them for something they said. The first amendment has no exception for "fighting words" either. It's just another bogus limitation on our rights created by authoritarian judges.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 15 2018, @10:39PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 15 2018, @10:39PM (#638488)

      Another faggot! Your mother smelled of elderberries!

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 15 2018, @10:57PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 15 2018, @10:57PM (#638502)

      GENIUS!

      I'm going to go into every city that voted for trump and trash talk him until someone takes a swing at me. Then I will sue the city and demand that a police squad follow me around to protect me from the violent public. I will repeat this process until I bankrupt the cities. MAGA!@!!

      I'll just be glad that you're an insignificunt fly on four year turd being dropped on the U.S.A