You heard about the incident in the news last week – anti-abortion activists got arrested on the campus of AB-Tech. Here, you’ll see how school officials and Asheville Police Department officers handled the situation. This is video shot by the protesters.
7 Comments
OK, "fight" over. And now AB Tech will have to do their own dirty work and take all the heat that comes with it.
Hi Melissa –
Recently here in Asheville the Police had issues of "flag desecration" as well as protesting with antiwar signs over the highway. Now this. By "go after left and right" I mean it seems the APD were at least not showing political bias at all.
For which I was unfeignedly thankful. (I also think it’s cool the cops let them keep the video camera – asking even who to give the camera to when the party holding it was arrested.)
In response to the question "is this public property" the "manager" as the officer called him, replied "we want you off our property" then gave that cute, pained look to the police officer – that’s close enough to "shut up and go home" for me.
What do "right" and "left" refer to, if not politics? Sounds like you’re parsing.
And who says "shut up and go home"? Is my speaker not working properly?
Meanwhile, AB-Tech has now hired its own police force, for which I am very thankful.Hopefully, that’s taking some of the burden off the APD for instances such as these.
Melissa –
As I blogged over on mine, if the cop or the college official had answered the simple question put to them, this video would seem a lot less harsh. Everyone was acting like a robot. That’s kinda annoying to see.
A direct question deserves a direct answer. The answer "shut up and go home" is not a civil response to "is this public property?"
(PS: I Didn’t say it was because of Politics – in fact, I said "Seems like the cops in A’ville go after the right and the left.")
Huw, the cops didn’t just show up because they felt like it. The school called and said they had trespassers. You saw what happened after they got there and you see the vice chancellor standing with the officer, clearly stating that these folks are not welcome. State law allows a school, even a public school, to regulate who/what is allowed on their grounds. It’s silly and reductive to say this was because of politics. The police charge trespassers all the time, but most of them don’t hold press conferences and go on tours with the hope of being arrested and adding it to YouTube.
Brilliantly handled by the APD.
Yes they have free speech rights, but the college has the right to control when and where, they were disruputing (I have heard) classes, so they had to go.
Good heavens. Seems like the cops in A’ville go after the right and the left. Unlike some other cities, I see they at least didn’t take away the camera.
It’s this odd mix. Free speech on property paid for by my tax dollars… and police.
Gar.