Student assaulted at Ann Coulter lecture in New Jersey

[proud2BlibKansan]

<skip>

After chatting with some people in the audience for a few minutes, I got in line to speak to Coulter. I was planning on introducing myself and following up to my question that I'd asked earlier; I did not find her response to be satisfactory. When it was my turn in line, I walked onto the stage, and toward Coulter. I was immediately cut off by two security officials, one a police officer, one in plainclothes. They said that I could not come up to her table if I did not have a book. I said I just wanted to ask a question, and approached the table. At no point did I make physical contact with anyone on stage. I simply “side-stepped” the individuals that obstructed me.

Coulter, apparently startled by the commotion caused by the two officials, jumped backwards in her chair, as if she thought I was on the verge of attack. I suppose Coulter is used to that kind of threat, but it was certainly not my intention whatsoever. I did not lunge at her, nor yell anything at her; I only calmly walked up to her table. But, as it happened, I did not utter more than three words of my question before I was forcibly escorted to the end of the stage, led down the stairs, told "you're outta here", and again pushed in the direction of the building's exit without so much as a pause or an explanation.

Not allowing myself to be physically removed without even being able to comment on what was going on, I then began to walk in the opposite direction, back toward the center of the auditorium where I had been sitting and mingling with people after the lecture. The officer suddenly started to pull my coat and grab at my shoulders. Instinctively, I didn't simply allow him to do this, and kept moving forward. I did not resist, nor did I shove or strike the officer in any way. I simply started walking in a different direction. I was then tackled to the ground by the officer and surrounded by several others. It was impossible for me to tell how many of them were involved, because my face had just hit the ground head first. One officer restrained me to the floor by my legs, while another knelt on my head, with his knee crushing my face. He applied a considerable amount of body weight, and my head was pressed against the carpet. I have a relatively large abrasion on the left side of my head and on my left ear. Here is a photo. ?t=1235110285 At this point, I was handcuffed.

I was then literally thrown out of the building via an emergency exit located right across the aisle. I again hit the ground, this time the grass. My glasses flew off my face. I'm very nearsighted, so I could not see much of what went on throughout the rest of this ordeal. Several times I asked for my glasses back and the officers either brushed me off, made some kind of joke, or flat-out refused. When asked why, their explanations were, "Because I said so." and "Because that's the way it is."

more . . . http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/2/19/155659/800/272/699418

[MADem]

1. Why do people even give that monstrous creature ANY attention?

The best thing that could happen to her is that she hold a talk at a school...and no one showed up, except maybe the fat kid who uses her photo as a sex aid, or something.

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. Not everyone knows who she is

I can certainly understand a college student attending her lecture because he is curious about her book. A lot of people don't pay attention to politics as much as we do on DU.

I would certainly never go hear her speak. (I would rather stand outside with a sign condemning her.) But in a way I admire people who are curious enough to want to learn more about anyone, even a hateful witch like Coultergeist.

[MADem]

11. Thing is, these colleges pay her an appearance fee that is up to twenty grand, depending on the

venue.

Encouraging people to boycott her would cut off one of her sources of income, and then maybe, like the Wicked Witch of the West when washed with water, she'd start MEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLTING!!!! Then, we'd not have to deal with her anymore.

She needs to be filed in the same category as the late Morton Downey, Junior. Loudmouths who have used up their fifteen minutes, and then some.

[proud2BlibKansan]

13. Yes a boycott would be much better

I agree.

[caraher]

31. Sometimes more...

She appeared at a small college where I used to teach, and the alumni-funded RW student group paid $20k and the student government kicked in $5k for the privilege of hearing her spew venom for 40 minutes followed by not answering questions. This was preceded by a dinner with members of the group, their alumni backers and a few faculty. I spoke with one of the faculty who attended the dinner and he said she seemed like a normal person while not performing, which might be a hint as to why Bill Maher might like her.

Students often don't understand what she's really about. I organized the students who mounted a small satirical protest, and when I first contacted them with some choice Coulter quotes they had no idea she was that bad.

And no, I did not attend her talk, though I was there with the students just outside to keep an eye on things.

[MADem]

33. I swear, if the protests took the "This is Where Your Tuition is Going" tack, maybe

more of these kids would "get the connection." A flyer that says "You'll be paying back your college loans until you're thirty five because this university wants you to hear from an ignorant, bigoted fascist!" might go a long way towards dissuading kids from even being interested in subsidizing that disgusting cretin.

[caraher]

36. In this case it wouldn't have helped

though that would be a good idea at other schools. But when she came to my school, there was zero money directly from the administration. The lion's share came from RW alums who donate money to attract a big-name RW speaker each year. Students did get soaked by their own student government seeing fit to chip in $5k; that came from student activity fees rather than tuition.

If the college itself had paid for it, I think there would have been a faculty revolt. Instead, for most of us (apart from the RW faculty) it was just the annual freak show (not that we didn't all have a great moan over all the more useful ways we could have spent $25k on a speaker - or speakers).

[MADem]

55. 'This is where your student government activity fee money is going!!!

Don't take this shit lying down!!! Put that money into keggers, where it belongs!!!!!"

Or words to that effect!!!

Vote the baaastids out! Anyone who spends money on that bag of shit deserves to lose their elected position!

[47of74]

19. Thanks a hell of a lot

I did not need that visual of the fat kid using man thing's photo as a sex aid!

[BirminghamExaminer]

22. Which makes me wonder why the hell Bill Maher is going to debate her next week

all that does is give her some sort of credibility which she doesn't deserve.

[proud2BlibKansan]

26. What?

I hadn't heard about that.

[Brazenly Liberal]

30. Maher has said on a number of occasions that he really likes her

He said they're friends. He said she was all wrong about almost everything, but he found her smart and witty and good company. I don't know if he still feels that way.

I have absolutely no interest in seeing Coulter do anything but a frogmarch, but the two of them are a good match up for this kind of event, I suppose. He's considered smart and funny by many on the left and she's considered smart and witty by many on the right.

[MADem]

35. I dunno. Maybe he's desperate. I gave up HBO, it just wasn't doing it for me. NT

[orleans]

56. coulter's motto: BUY MY BOOK OR DIE! (what a fucking bitch!) n/t

[zagging]

2. "my face had just hit the ground head first"

*sigh*

[IGotAName]

3. Probably wasn't going to be a great question anyway. nt

[zagging]

5. I hate the LOL acronym, and I generally don't type it, but LOL

[hay rick]

18. If I had a great question

I sure as hell wouldn't waste it on Coulter.

[Number23]

54. lol again!!

:)

[proud2BlibKansan]

4. Well that certainly doesn't justify his assault

:shrug:

[zagging]

7. I know

But when you mess with fire, you're gonna get burned. They may have been out of line, but this type of story is so common that I have come to believe that any normally functioning person should understand the probablility of it recurring.

[proud2BlibKansan]

10. Bernard Goldberg was here last year

A friend of mine who isn't into politics like I am called me and asked if I wanted to go hear him speak. She read a brief blurb in the newspaper, saw he was a media personality who had written a book about politics and thought I might want to go.

Of course I told her what an ass he was and that there was no way in hell I would want to share air with him.

But a lot of people don't know Ann Coulter from Rachel Maddow anymore than I know who is on American Idol or Survivor.

[hisownpetard]

37. Bernard Goldberg - Donald Trump's just-as-evil twin.

They both look like guppies, searching for food.

[IGotAName]

9. This is just Andrew Meyer all over again.

Sounds like Coulter didn't want to talk to this person, who was being aggressive even if not all that physically so. Meyer didn't even get close to Kerry.

It's private property. Don't mess with police officers. If you can sweet talk your way to what you want, do that, but otherwise, go home.

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. How did he "mess with police officers"?

:shrug:

[IGotAName]

15. The mistake he made was reversing course while being escorted out.

If he's being removed from this private property, he needs to respect that. That's the law. He didn't respect it- he physically resisted their ushering- and was physically taken control of.


However, I read his whole story and it does sound like the officers abused him while he was in custody. They were certainly unprofessional.

I don't think he should file a lawsuit but there's nothing wrong with him confronting the officers about their behavior.

[MattBaggins]

21. Wasn't he on a university grounds?

Not private property

[IGotAName]

23. It's a public university but he was inside one of the buildings that belong

to and are run by the institution and thus are subject to law enforcement the university chooses for that property. I.E., "campus police."

If the police, and thus the university, didn't want the guy in their building, they can force him to leave.

[MattBaggins]

34. Or one could look at it as a place that belongs to the students

and the taxpayers. Perhaps they could set the ground rules under which the thugs will operate and not the other way around.

[IGotAName]

38. But the university runs it and makes the decisions concerning the property.

Because, otherwise, nobody would run it and it would be a big free-for-all in an area that needs more structure than that.

In other words- it's not a public sidewalk.

[olegramps]

24. How do conclude that it was private property?

[IGotAName]

39. It was "private" in that there is an institution who has say over what

goes on inside of its buildings. It's a public university, but not "public" in the sense that one has a right to be there without condition as long as one is not actually breaking a law. You can be kicked out.

[MattBaggins]

40. Completely wrong world veiw

It is Public as in "you have the right to be there if you are not actually breaking a law".

[IGotAName]

41. Really?

So...they shouldn't lock the doors after hours?

People can sleep in their buildings?

People can make use of their facilities- say, hold symposiums there- without running it by the school first?

People should be able to get in to school events for free, as is their right to access "public" places, even if a fee is being charged at the door?

And maybe, during those same school-sponsored events, people can just jump up in the middle of it, take over the entire conversation and ruin the whole thing for everybody and there's nothing anybody can do about it- because they want their voice heard?

No, I'm afraid that's not the way it works. Somebody, unfortunately, has to be in charge and make decisions about how an event is going to be run, and when someone else won't go along with the plan, those people in charge have the right to ask that person to leave.

If they won't, they can be physically escorted out by the law enforcement officials present.

That's reality.

[MattBaggins]

42. Drama much?

Asking that the security teams conduct themselves within boundaries and remember that institutions of higher learning are first and foremost, public places, is a far cry from what you are trying to claim is our argument.

[Hissyspit]

51. 1. Yes, the asshole violent bigoted Constitutionally abusive law enforcement

officials can be asked to remove you, but...

2. It's a college/university. There are expected traditionally different standards. He wasn't holding a sit-in and he wasn't assaulting anyone.

[IGotAName]

14. Take a look at the article.

He has a better beef than is presented here.

[Number23]

53. LOL!

He's probably a big, big fan of novels that begin, "it was a dark and stormy night..."

;)

[Manifestor_of_Light]

8. bastards.

They don't understand that many people MUST HAVE THEIR GLASSES in order to function.

I'm very nearsighted as well. Can't get any further than the bathroom without them.

I smell a nice big lawsuit and investigation....

[walkaway]

16. KKKoulter was in NJ?

Now we have to scrub down the whole state!

[Reverend_Smitty]

49. Even worse, I work at the college. I could still smell the sulfur in the air...

when I was at work today...lol. If anything good could be taken from her appearance, it did get kids talking on a pretty much politically apathetic campus

[Liberal_in_LA]

17. KICK

[lpbk2713]

20. It wouldn't surprise me one bit if ...

... Coulter put out the word before it all began that she would give the security goons a tip if they
roughed up any "troublemakers". That would explain why they got such obvious enjoyment out of it.

[olegramps]

25. Why would you need security at a book signing?

[zagging]

27. Pie

[lpbk2713]

28. I guess most 'normal' people wouldn't need security at a small venue.

But Coultergeist has a talent for bringing out the worst in people.

She might have even developed a cream pie phobia by now.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

29. I Love How He Tries To Make Himself Sound So Innocent LOL

What a moran...

[michreject]

32. If a cop says move it

He's not open to debate. You either do as he says or wind up in the hoosegow.

[Hissyspit]

43. And that justifies the other described behavior how?

[michreject]

47. I didn't say it justified the cops behavior

I just said if they say go, the path of least resistance is to go.

[Chulanowa]

44. Why?

We give ambulatory bacon authority way beyond their station in this country.

[michreject]

48. They have the power to completely and uterly distroy your life

And no one is taking it away from them.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

46. This was just stupidity. I've had larger abrasions from a good nights sleep.

[hfojvt]

52. Dang, there are many more police defenders here than before

when I had to do all the heavy lifting

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5098191#5099492

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

45. Don't taze me, bro!

[Cid_B]

50. Here is a good rule..

Don't "side step" cops who are talking to you.

"The officer suddenly started to pull my coat and grab at my shoulders. Instinctively, I didn't simply allow him to do this, and kept moving forward. I did not resist, nor did I shove or strike the officer in any way."

Also, pulling away is resisting. You innocent little angel you. :eyes: