CT College That Punished Student for Questioning Gun Control Now Censoring Facebook
We covered the first chapter in this story last week. Now Asnuntuck Community College is digging itself into an even deeper hole.
Hat tip to Instapundit.
Tim Cushing of Tech Dirt reports.
College Violates Student’s Rights, Follows It Up By Deleting Critical Comments From Its Facebook Page
from the showing-a-definite-preference-for-wrongs-over-rights dept
Another college has deployed censorious tactics, and as usual, FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education) has the story.
On October 23, 2013, Asnuntuck Community College (ACC) student Nicholas Saucier had a videotaped conversation about recent gun legislation with Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy, who was visiting campus as part of an ongoing conference. At the end of the conversation, during which he called Malloy a “snake” as Malloy left in his vehicle, Saucier was confronted by the college’s president and a campus security officer, who escorted him off campus. The college charged Saucier with harassment and making threats, among other violations of its conduct policies.
The video of this encounter is still live (no doubt much to ACC’s chagrin) and it shows Saucier discussing the impact of the governor’s gun control policies on his ammunition business. Governor Malloy doesn’t look too interested in fielding complaints from a constituent, which probably explains Saucier’s tossed off, low-level insult as his “representative” exited the scene.
Not only did Saucier get run off campus by the school president and his security team, he was also suspended and banned from the school’s property until college administration could “discuss” his supposed “harassment” with him. But rather than entertain any ideas of due process, ACC instead tried to pressure the student into “pleading guilty” to all “charges” and submitting to a mandatory professional evaluation before he could apply for readmission…
All the while, the ACC has been busy burying dissenting opinions from students and others. FIRE reports that the admins of the school’s Facebook page had been removing critical comments before finally deciding to take the entire page offline.
College Violates Student's Rights, Follows It Up By Deleting Critical Comments From Its Facebook Page (Tech Dirt)
Comments
So typical of leftists. They can’t stand the thought of people holding opinions contrary to their beliefs, so they attempt censorship. If they can’t control the narrative by squelching unfavorable (in their view) speech, they just shut the whole thing down.
Obviously they’re not interested in the “free marketplace of ideas” – they’re only interested in indoctrination. They don’t want free-thinking individuals; they want collectivist clones who don’t deviate from leftist orthodox beliefs.
It’s not just typical; it’s vital. It’s how the extreme left (ie, any variety of socialist) deals with reality – by ignoring it as long as possible. Questions which aren’t asked don’t need answers. Accusations which aren’t made don’t need responses. Arguments which aren’t made don’t need discussions. Facts which aren’t presented don’t need refutation.
It’s the incarnation of distilled nuttiness, and the only path to survival is the rote denial that anything else is possible.
This is why they seem to be such closed-minded individuals. They have to be.