Brickbat: You Can't Protest Here

Igor Stevanovic / Dreamstime.com

In Minnesota, New Prague High School Principal Lonnie Seifert removed a student from the campus after he held up a sign reading "Guns don't kill people, people kill people" during a student walkout to protest gun violence.

Comments

[Jerryskids]

The district said though it respects and recognizes free speech rights, they "are to be balanced against the district's responsibility to maintain a school environment focused on education."

Some men you just can't reach.

[SQRLSY One]

The whole thing for yer viewing pleasure... Save you a mouse stroke, if, like me, stroking your mouse grosses you out!

Updated at 3:24 p.m. Thursday

A student holding a sign that said "Guns don't kill people, people kill people" as part of the National Walkout to protest gun violence was escorted off school property by Principal Lonnie Seifert Wednesday morning at New Prague High School.

In the video, Seifert is seen approaching the student and leading him away from the protest. Seifert then threatened to put the student in a police car, according to student Kenny MacDonal, who published a video of the incident, which had 2.75 million views as of Thursday afternoon. Other students held signs that said "Arm our teachers."

"This violates the first amendment and makes me sick that they can do whatever they want," MacDonal wrote on the Facebook post.

[SQRLSY One]

The high school said in response to the incident that district policy requires such items to be reviewed by school administrators at least 24 hours in advance, and "to protect the exercise of students' and employees' free speech rights, [while] taking into consideration the educational objectives and responsibilities of the School District," the sign was moved to off grounds."

"The district has an obligation to enforce this policy without regard to political viewpoint," the statement said.

Students were not disciplined and law enforcement was not involved, the statement said, and the administration has an obligation to enforce a "time, place, and manner restriction" policy, it said. The district said though it respects and recognizes free speech rights, they "are to be balanced against the district's responsibility to maintain a school environment focused on education."

Superintendent Tim Dittberner said the district is investigating the incident.

A New Prague Police Department employee said no report was made on the incident.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

[SQRLSY One]

My comment: What A yuuuuge bucket of crap! They might just as well have said...

"We had to shut this young punk up, in order for us to protect his free speech rights".

[Cynical Asshole]

The district said though it respects and recognizes free speech rights, they "are to be balanced against the district's responsibility to maintain a school environment focused on education."

In that case, why were students allowed, and in some cases encouraged, to walk out to protest gun violence rights? Shouldn't the district's policy have been "you can participate in the walk out if you choose, but teachers don't have to stop class in order to accommodate your desire to make an idiotic political statement and allow yourselves to be used as props by adult gun control advocates."

I'm sure there's probably a more diplomatic way to phrase that, but fuck that shit.

[Mickey Rat]

All it shows was that the school was favoring one message over the counterpoint. Saying thst they removed him so as to be focused on education is a bad joke.

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[AlmightyJB]

Welcome to the Dark Side young Padawan.

[Fist of Etiquette]

"The district has an obligation to enforce this policy without regard to political viewpoint," the statement said.

Did they meet that obligation? Of course not. To single out a political viewpoint proves the district employee was enforcing his own or the district's political viewpoint.

[Longtobefree]

Well, it's not like there is a constitution anymore anyway.
By the way, what is the school policy on bullying, and does it cover the administration?

[Inigo Montoya]

The girl's message wasn't right. Guns are magical talismans that can infect the minds of those who possess them. You take the most mild-mannered law-abiding person and give him a gun and it slowly warps him into a nut job spree killer.

[Get To Da Chippah]

What's even worse is that the eldritch curse has spread to knives in Europe.

[Cynical Asshole]

TEH SYENSE IZ SETTELLD!

[Eidde]

Network news ignores nationwide student prolife walkout

In the school where the movement started, the local paper provides some coverage.

The school boasts that it won't discipline the participating prolife students, but the students didn't exactly get the same treatment as the anti-gun students in the previous walkout:

"About 40 students holding pro-life signs left classes at about 10 a.m. and squared off peacefully in the quad with 10 or so students holding pro-choice signs, according to district officials, who would not allow media near the protest....

[Eidde]

"Gillespie and Benzel both say that Tuesday's protesters were not treated the same as the participants in the National School Walkout, who were given tents to shelter them from the rain and a public address system. Teachers also were directed not to discipline students who participated in the March 14 protest, Benzel said. She said similar directives were not given to teachers about Tuesday's protest, although the district did say it would not punish students who participated in the protest Tuesday....

"District officials contend that the two events were treated differently because they were different. According to the district, Rocklin High opted for a remembrance activity on March 14 that included 17 minutes of silence, an event "considered viewpoint neutral" and "a show of unity for students as part of a national conversation concerning school safety.""

[Palin's Buttplug]

Oh Fuck You Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn - on CNBC complaining about how Google and Facebook "censors" conservatives and how her "Browser Act" will regulate them so they can't block her and her Pravda like minions from littering private company web sites.

[Rich]

a sign reading "Guns don't kill people, people kill people" during a student walkout to protest gun violence.

Since the walkout was not protesting *people* violence, it was an inappropriate sign.

Why, you wouldn't wish someone "Merry Christmas" during Chanukah, would you?

[sarcasmic]

That's a good point. After all, it's the guns that are violent. Take the guns away and the gun violence will stop. But then there will be a wave of knife violence as we've seen in London. That's easy enough to solve. Take all the knives away. But then there will be a wave of tool violence. That's easy enough to solve. Take away everyone's screwdrivers and hammers. But then there will be a wave of...

[TrickyVic (old school)]

Thus the reason AI comes to the logical conclusion. Kill all humans.

One day we will build robots to do "the right thing" to end violence.

[Rebel Scum]

The district said though it respects and recognizes free speech rights, they "are to be balanced against the district's responsibility to maintain a school environment focused on education." leftist activism.

[Rhywun]

I hope every one of these student protesters - on all sides - gets the atomic wedgie that "kid activists" so richly deserve.

[sarcasmic]

I don't blame the kids. They're just doing what their teachers are telling them to do. You can be sure that they've talked about this at length to the children, while shutting down all opposing viewpoints in the name of tolerance.

[sarcasmic]

I remember getting all kinds of leftist indoctrination in high school. My history teacher talked about his experience during Vietnam. He didn't go, but he was ready to flee to Canada if he was drafted. He then showed Platoon as if it was a documentary. This was long before Columbine, so "gun violence" wasn't on the radar yet.
As a lesson in civics we were all instructed to write a letter to our representative regarding the rain forests. Like our government can do something about what is happening in Brazil. Leftist bullshit.
Hopefully the kids will grow out of it. I did.

[Rhywun]

I don't remember a lot of indoctrination other than completely harmless "prejudice is bad!" in the early grades. I do remember that getting "involved" in anything was seriously uncool, to the point where nobody did it unless it was required for some honors program or something and then only under duress.

[leninsmummy]

I remember back in high school we had a chapter in social studies about gun violence. The teacher asked "Which one of you would really kill someone who was threatening other students??", clearly expecting bored silence as was typical of rhetorical questions in high school. I was the only one who raised my hand. I don't even own a gun.

[TrickyVic (old school)]

The irony of taking action against a kid protesting, at a protest, on the grounds of he's protesting.

[markm23]

This is described in law as "viewpoint discrimination", and the Supreme Court disapproves. If we actually had a Department of Justice, there'd be an indictment coming down for violation of civil rights.

[croaker]

If we actually had a Department of Justice, the incident people are protesting would never have occurred.