Free speech takes a hit at UNC

We read:

"At Chapel Hill, the glow of winning the 2009 NCAA basketball championship still radiates, and the university can understandably puff with pride. Until Tuesday, that is, when UNC’s reputation was badly tarnished. That’s when a bunch of student rabble-rousers muzzled a controversial speaker and thus trampled the principle of free speech.

Here’s what happened: Tom Tancredo, a former Republican presidential candidate and former congressman from Colorado, was scheduled to speak at UNC’s Bingham Hall. Tancredo is a fierce opponent of illegal immigration... That fit the agenda of a right-wing UNC group called Youth for Western Civilization, which invited Tancredo to speak on campus. The group opposes immigration, affirmative action and multiculturalism.

Tancredo’s appearance was acceptable, because universities are supposed to be forums for the free exchange of ideas — including repugnant and unpopular ideas. But on Tuesday afternoon, several hundred protesters marched into Bingham Hall. Screaming profanities, the protesters were determined to prevent the speech. Tancredo’s speech, which barely got started, focused on his opposition to in-state tuition for illegal immigrants.

Then things got violent. One protester shattered a window, two others marched across the stage with a huge banner thrust in front of Tancredo. The banner said: “No dialogue with hate.” (One wonders who the real haters were.)

Police stopped the speech and escorted Tancredo away. Police then used pepper spray to quell the protests and empty a hallway. Police also threatened to use a Taser against the demonstrators. (Police are now investigating these methods.)

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