Feminist University Professor Steals Anti-Abortion Protester Sign, Assaults Minor On Elevator

[dannno]

Article: http://www.independent.com/news/2014/mar/11/ucsb-professor-accused-assaulting-pro-life-activis/

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLemX9QtUa4&feature=youtu.be

I'm personally against using the tactics that this anti-abortion group uses by placing large violent imagery in public and in fact their organization seems to possibly be modeled similarly to the Westboro Baptist Church model where they attempt to troll and inflame people, causing violent outbursts which in turn lead to profitable lawsuits for the group.

However I have to defend the anti-abortion group in this instance, at least from a legal standpoint based on the evidence I've seen.

While we don't get to see the incidents that led up to this, it appears that two students and a professor steal her sign and attempt to take it into a school building to hide or destroy. When they get on the elevator, the 21 year old girl (not a student at the University) and her younger sister who is a minor follow them and attempt to stop the elevator or get on so they can follow their stolen property.

The comments on this article have gone off the charts (150 comments so far - aka 15 pages of an RPF thread) - there are, as you guessed it, quite a few people on the left defending the theft and assault by the professor and two students for at least a couple reasons -

1. The images are inappropriate and should not be displayed as a lot of people enjoy their lunch in this area (even though PETA and anti-war groups show similarly violent images in the same spot on different days)

2. They purposely troll and try to get people to mess with them for lawsuits, so their past behavior should remove their right to protest

[dannno]

bump

[phill4paul]

The comments on this article have gone off the charts (150 comments so far - aka 15 pages of an RPF thread) - there are, as you guessed it, quite a few people on the left defending the theft and assault by the professor and two students for at least a couple reasons -

1. The images are inappropriate and should not be displayed as a lot of people enjoy their lunch in this area (even though PETA and anti-war groups show similarly violent images in the same spot on different days)

2. They purposely troll and try to get people to mess with them for lawsuits, so their past behavior should remove their right to protest

What is inappropriate about the pictures? It is reality. People shouldn't be offended by the images but by the action which caused the images.

[dannno]

What is inappropriate about the pictures? It is reality. People shouldn't be offended by the images but by the action which caused the images.

Well a comment someone made was what if a girl was raped and had an abortion and then was subjugated to viewing the images of the abortion. I don't think that's a very strong argument, it is what it is, as Juan Pablo would say.

[Paulbot99]

"If you're not a student, you cannot have an opinion that we find offensive." The stupidity of some people...

[John F Kennedy III]

I see nothing wrong with showing the images. Damn "progressives" can't stand seeing the results of their murders. Yes it is still murder if you were raped.

I can't get away with walking into a liquor store and killing the clerk by claiming i was raped beforehand....at least i hope not.

[fr33]

I assume the professor is a progressive. Theft and using violence to back up her theft is just the progressive modus operandi. That's why she's smiling the whole time.

[Danke]

Well a comment someone made was what if a girl was raped and had an abortion and then was subjugated to viewing the images of the abortion. I don't think that's a very strong argument, it is what it is, as Juan Pablo would say.

She could avoid the designated "free speech zone" on that campus.

[aGameOfThrones]

Well a comment someone made was what if a girl was raped and had an abortion and then was subjugated to viewing the images of the abortion. I don't think that's a very strong argument, it is what it is, as Juan Pablo would say.


2 wrongs don't make a right?

[jbauer]

Well a comment someone made was what if a girl was raped and had an abortion and then was subjugated to viewing the images of the abortion. I don't think that's a very strong argument, it is what it is, as Juan Pablo would say.

If the woman reported her rape and took the morning after pill during the investigation there wouldn't be an abortion.

[gwax23]

"I support murder but I refuse to see the consequences of what I support" = 100% of people thinking this person is stupid.

"I support the Iraq War but refuse to see or look at the consequences of what I support" = 80% of people think this person is stupid.

"I support abortion but I refuse to see or look at the consequences of what I support" = 50%+ think this person is completely right.

[dannno]

Update:


UCSB Police Department Releases Professor-Protestor Incident Report

Mireille Miller-Young Said She Had ‘Moral Right’ to Take and Destroy Anti-Abortion Activists’ Sign


In the report, Miller-Young, who is pregnant, said she was “triggered” by the graphic images of aborted fetuses on the large posters and said she felt the demonstrators didn’t have a right to be on the university’s campus, because their messages were upsetting to her and students. When asked by police if there had been a struggle between her and the activists when she took the poster, Miller-Young responded, “I’m stronger, so I was able to take the poster.”

...

In the report, Miller-Young also stated she’d be willing to pay for the cost of the sign but would “hate it.” She said she was “mainly” responsible for its destruction in her office — which she called a “safe space” — because she was the only one with scissors at the time. Miller-Young admitted to authorities that she probably shouldn’t have taken the poster but said she did the “right thing” because she believed the group was violating university policy and infringing on her rights. She likened her actions to that of a “conscientious objector.”

http://www.independent.com/news/2014/mar/18/ucsb-police-department-releases-professor-protesto/

[aGameOfThrones]

Update:



http://www.independent.com/news/2014/mar/18/ucsb-police-department-releases-professor-protesto/


http://tctechcrunch2011.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/nathan-fillion.gif?w=473

[Paulbot99]

Hmm... Guilty conscience maybe?

[PaulConventionWV]

Well a comment someone made was what if a girl was raped and had an abortion and then was subjugated to viewing the images of the abortion. I don't think that's a very strong argument, it is what it is, as Juan Pablo would say.

Subjected, not subjugated.

[Barrex]

Joan said that at around 11 a.m., Dr. Mireille Miller-Young (http://www.femst.ucsb.edu/people/academic/mireille-miller-young) — an associate professor with UCSB’s Feminist Studies Department

I am sorry but my caveman side of the brain cant take it anymore:

WHAT IN THE FUCUKING, FUCKIDY HELL IS THAT?

First time i hear of it. I am serious what is that?

[PaulConventionWV]

I am sorry but my caveman side of the brain cant take it anymore:

WHAT IN THE FUCUKING, FUCKIDY HELL IS THAT?

First time i hear of it. I am serious what is that?

As an American, I can tell you in no uncertain terms and with great conviction that that is... a very good question.

[dannno]

Subjected, not subjugated.

I think both work, could have been an auto-correct thingy tho.

[Petar]

I am sorry but my caveman side of the brain cant take it anymore:

WHAT IN THE FUCUKING, FUCKIDY HELL IS THAT?

First time i hear of it. I am serious what is that?

Oh dude, you have no idea...

Look at the animals that we are growing in Canada:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvYyGTmcP80

This type of creature is more common than you can possibly imagine, all of the young "idealistic" type woman are being propagandized into this now...

Can you say "armageddon"?

[dannno]

As an American, I can tell you in no uncertain terms and with great conviction that that is... a very good question.

I posted this comment recently on the website for this story:


http://www.independent.com/news/2014/mar/14/why-i-oppose-gang-injunction/



Tabatha -

The Libertarian mantra - teach a person how to fish.

Libertarian actions in that regard - zero.


My response:

The Progressive mantra - teach a person how to fish.

Progressive actions in that regard - steal fish from other people to give to a teacher, but then instead of teaching them how to fish teach them Feminist Studies.

[aGameOfThrones]

Oh dude, you have no idea...

Look at the animals that we are growing in Canada:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvYyGTmcP80

This type of creature is more common than you can possibly imagine, all of the young "idealistic" type woman are being propagandized into this now...

Can you say "armageddon"?


http://www.gifsforum.com/images/gif/cannot%20unsee%20what%20has%20been%20seen/grand/computer-suicide-cannot-unsee-what-has-been-seen-eccbc87e4b5ce2fe28308fd9f2a7baf3-337.gif

[PaulConventionWV]

I think both work, could have been an auto-correct thingy tho.

Both don't work.

[dannno]

Both don't work.

Yes and no.

It's hard to walk by them without looking at them at all, but certainly nobody is forcing you to stare at them.

[dannno]

UCSB Professor Charged with Theft and Battery
http://www.independent.com/news/2014/mar/21/ucsb-professor-charged-theft-and-battery-after-con/

[dannno]

UCSB Administrator Issues Statement on Free Speech

Michael D. Young’s Email Comes in Wake of Professor-Protestor Incident



Friday, March 21, 2014
By Tyler Hayden (Contact)


Michael D. Young, UCSB’s Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, sent an email Wednesday to all university students expressing his views on free speech and reminding the campus that “We cannot pick and choose which views are allowed to be aired and who is allowed to speak.” Young doesn’t directly address the elephant in the room that likely prompted the communique — theft and battery charges filed against a UCSB faculty member in the wake of her confrontation with anti-abortion activists — but notes that “recent events” made the the school’s longstanding value of freedom of expression worth repeating.

Read the full letter below:

Dear Students:

Over the past several weeks, our campus has been visited by a number of outside groups and individuals coming here to promote an ideology, to promulgate particular beliefs (at times extreme beliefs), or simply to create discord that furthers a certain personal agenda. Some passionately believe in their causes, while others peddle hate and intolerance with less-than-noble aims. Whatever the motives and goals, the presence of such people and groups on campus can be disruptive and has the potential to draw us into the kind of conflict that puts at risk the quality of exchange of ideas that is fundamental to the mission of our university.

What is happening now is not new: evangelical types have been visiting UCSB and university campuses since time immemorial. What we see at UCSB today is simply the most recent generation of true believers, self-proclaimed prophets, and provocateurs. During the past few weeks, UCSB has been visited by various anti-abortion crusaders. Some have been considerate and thoughtful in promoting their message; others have openly displayed images that many in our community find distressing and offensive. We have also seen earnest and thoughtful religious missionaries, and we have seen proselytizers hawking intolerance in the name of religious belief. As a consequence of interactions with the more extreme of our visitors, students have expressed outrage, pain, embarrassment, fear, hurt, and feelings of harassment. Moreover, I have received requests that the campus prohibit the peddling of “fear,” “hate,” “intolerance,” and “discord” here at UCSB.

Those of you who know me are aware that I have strong views on the matter of intolerance. You also know that I hold equally strong views on the sanctity of free speech. If you have heard me speak at Convocation or at anti-hate events, or if you have seen me officiating at the ***** Wedding, you know that my message on both counts is clear. Recent events lead me to believe that this message bears repeating.

First, the principle of freedom of expression resides at the very foundation of our society and, most certainly, at the foundation of a world-class university such as UC Santa Barbara. Freedom and rights are not situational: we either have freedom of speech or we do not. We cannot pick and choose which views are allowed to be aired and who is allowed to speak. If that were the case, then only those in charge—those holding power—would determine who gets to speak and whose views are heard.

Second, freedom is not free. The price of freedom for all to speak is that, at times, everyone will be subjected to speech and expression that we, ourselves, find offensive, hateful, vile, hurtful, provocative, and perhaps even evil. So be it! Law and policy ban only an extremely narrow band of speech and expression—“yelling ‘fire!’ in a crowded theatre,” for example, and child pornography. The price we pay to speak our own minds is allowing others to speak theirs, regardless of how oppositional their views are to our own. Our Founding Fathers—all white men of privilege, some even slave owners—got it right when designing the First Amendment of the Constitution.

Having firmly stated my support for freedom of expression, I hasten to follow with a lesson my mother taught me when I was a small child, a lesson that has remained with me the rest of my life and that I relay to our entering students every fall at Convocation. My mother taught me that just because you can say or do something doesn’t mean that you should. Civility plays an important role in how we choose to exercise our right to expression. We all have the right to say odious things, to display offensive slogans and placards, and to hurt and disrespect groups and individuals that disagree with us. The question is: should we? Should we engage in these behaviors just because we can or because they serve our political, religious, or personal agendas?

At UCSB, our students have proven that we are better than this. While it has not always been easy, time and again UCSB students have demonstrated that they can disagree about the critical issues of our time—fundamentally and passionately but within a framework of humanity and civility, respecting the dignity of those whose views they oppose. Time and time again, UCSB students have demonstrated that they understand their role in defining the character and quality of this campus community—revealing their unwillingness to lower themselves to the tactics of those whose agenda comes wrapped in intolerance and extremism.

And now we are tested once again, outsiders coming into our midst to provoke us, to taunt us and attempt to turn us against one another as they promote personal causes and agendas. If we take the bait, if we adopt negative tactics and engage in name calling, confrontation, provocation, and offensive behavior, then they win and our community loses.

While urging you to engage with differing ideas and opinions in a civil manner, I also want to remind you that you have the option not to engage at all. You do not have to listen to, look at, or even acknowledge speech or expression that you find provocative or offensive. The Arbor Mall is a free speech area, as is the area in front of the University Center. If you do not want to be confronted by certain materials or expressions, you should avoid the free-speech areas when you expect that you might encounter them, or simply ignore them. I promise you the visitors will hate that. And, finally, if you think demonstrators, activists, or proselytizers are violating the law, report them to the UC Police Department. If you think they are violating campus policies, report them to the Office of Student Life (OSL). Similarly, if you feel harassed or think you are being subjected to offensive speech or material as an involuntary audience, please contact the Office of Student Life immediately. Katya Armistead, Associate Dean of Student Life and Activities, can be reached at 805-893-8912. If you do not reach her, someone at the general OSL number (805-893-4550) will be able to relay your message to her. The campus regulations address UCSB’s free speech policies further: www.sa.ucsb.edu.

What I am suggesting may not be easy, and it may feel more satisfying (at least for the moment) to lash out. (My mom often reminded me that doing the right thing is difficult.) If you feel that you must respond, hold a peaceful, thoughtful, civil, and dignified counter-demonstration, and show how students engage intellectually and politically at UCSB.

Sincerely,

Michael D. Young

Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs


http://www.independent.com/news/2014/mar/21/ucsb-administrator-issues-email-free-speech/

[angelatc]

Pretty good speech. Now, they should fire that professor, but they won't. She's pregnant, so she'll claim they outed her for that.

[aGameOfThrones]

Our Founding Fathers—all white men of privilege, some even slave owners—got it right when designing the First Amendment of the Constitution.

Lol