by Damien Fisher
Republished from Jan. 21 NH Journal
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) tells NHJournal it has launched an investigation into Dartmouth College’s decision to shut down an appearance by conservative journalist Andy Ngo in the face of threats of violence from Antifa.
“Threats of violence are never an appropriate response to speech you oppose and must not dictate who may speak, or what may be said, on a college campus. Universities should not reward those who threaten violence by canceling controversial speakers,” said FIRE Program Officer Zach Greenberg.
The ACLU of New Hampshire, however, is choosing to remain silent.
Ngo and former Antifa activist Gabe Nadales were scheduled to discuss extremism in America Thursday night on the Hanover, N.H. campus. The event was hosted by the Dartmouth College Republicans and the conservative activists at Turning Point USA. Ngo has built a national reputation covering violent, far-Left protests, events often ignored by the mainstream media.
The college security officer told a reporter for NHJournal Ngo’s appearance was canceled, and the event would be held online, but he would not say why the change was made.
“That’s a decision above my pay grade,” the security officer said.
Dartmouth College’s Associate Vice President for Communications Diana Lawrence said the event was moved online after it became clear it could not be held safely in person.
“In light of concerning information from Hanover police regarding safety issues, similar concerns expressed by the College Republican leadership, and challenges with the student organization’s ability to staff a large public event and communicate effectively (including dissemination of the visitor policy and a prohibition on bags in the building), the college has requested that the ‘Extremism in America’ panel be moved online,” Lawrence said.
Lawrence said 94 people signed on to attend Ngo’s event virtually. There was no visible presence of protestors Thursday night. A pair of men turned away at the doors, who appeared to be in their 30s and 40s, respectively, said they were on the college campus to attend the event. They declined to answer any further questions.
“The administration canceled the event and gave the student organizers the choice of holding a last-minute zoom meeting or nothing at all,” Ngo told InsideSources. “An event on violent extremism was threatened by violent extremists. It’s a cliche. Why did the College wait until two hours before the event to drop the ultimatum on organizers and speakers? Dartmouth College’s decision actually gives a blueprint for extremists to shut down future events.”
Several municipal police officers from Hanover and nearby Lebanon police departments were visible on the campus before the event. Hanover police declined to comment on the cancellation when contacted. On Friday morning, NH Journal was told senior Hanover police officers were in meetings and unavailable to comment.
Greenberg said FIRE plans to investigate the threats and the cancellation. He said the college needs to tell the truth about what, exactly, happened.
“While we appreciate that Dartmouth’s administration has facilitated an online version of this event, initially intended to take place in person, we must remain vigilant against universities citing safety concerns as a pretext to censor unpopular expression, and must ensure that those seeking to impose a “heckler’s veto” cannot succeed in doing so,” Greenberg said. “Dartmouth must be transparent by identifying the concerns that led to the cancellation of the planned event, the steps it took to address those concerns, and why it decided that the event could not take place as planned.”
University administrators silencing speech was once an issue almost certain to inspire action by the American Civil Liberties Union. But in recent years, the one-time civil rights advocacy group has abandoned its free speech mission, the New York Times reports.
Gilles Bissonnette, Legal Director at the ACLU of New Hampshire, did not respond to requests for comment.
In the days leading up to the event, members of Antifa organized a counterprotest, with some making threats to stop Ngo at all costs.
“When you enter our home you play by our rules, not yours,” the Northeast Antifa social media account posted. “New England is anti-fascists, and we will hold that line till death.”
NH Journal is an InsideSources publication.
Categories: Crime
“……a pretext to censor unpopular expression”. Huh. And I thought unpopular expression would have been assaulting & murdering law enforcement, opening our international borders to anyone, burning down private businesses & federal buildings, destroying public statues, vandalizing churches and threatening people with physical harm who hold what was always considered typical, traditional American views.
God, I mean even the folks proclaiming to want to protect free speech & freedom to assemble like to try & be “p.C. or “progressive”????!!!!
…..we will hold that line (and what a “line” it is) ’till death. Well, mommy’s boyz, prepare to die I suppose because N.H.’s state motto is: LIVE FREE OR DIE. So if you believe you little skateboarding nerds are going to prevent people from the freedom to assemble? Ummmmmm……nah.
GET IT CLEAR: They are more than “little skateboarding nerds”. They are far more dangerous.
If they are able, will silence anyone or anything who disagrees with them. They stockpile guns. AR-15’s, AK47’s, 9mm pistols, etc.
Marina Brown, Laura Potter in E. Charleston are a hub. They are expert at hacking, etc. They hosted Laurelai Bailey, who helped Julian Assange hack into govt. files and then turned State’s Evidence to avoid prosecution. It wasn’t the first time Bailey had done so. I have links to some serious material posted on the internet. They also fanatically support any excesses of the radical trans agenda(TRA). I considered them family until I was disowned for daring to disobey orders not to question anything.
“The administration canceled the event and gave the student organizers the choice of holding a last-minute zoom meeting or nothing at all,” Ngo told InsideSources. “An event on violent extremism was threatened by violent extremists. It’s a cliche. Why did the College wait until two hours before the event to drop the ultimatum on organizers and speakers? Dartmouth College’s decision actually gives a blueprint for extremists to shut down future events.” That just about says it all about the far-out left. And/or ‘tell a Republican the truth and he will thank you, but tell a Democrat the truth, and he will become angry.’ Great Article, Damien!
Mr. Fernandez, please see my Comments on this thread.
Antifa must not be underestimated. They are more than merely disorganized young people. Such young people are used by them, but the core is dangerous.
The administration of Dartmouth rewards violence because they themselves don’t support free speech when it comes to opinions from the right…The students are simply enacting what they’ve been taught by these radical colleges and universities…
“Again, the Dartmouth Administration used their Positions of Power to oppress..”
They did the same thing with us when we wanted to bring in Richard Gage of A&E9/11Truth. We wanted s debate with the College of Engineering on the WTC DEMOLITION.
They promised, they reneged, they shut us out and forbid us from using ANY on campus facility
Dartmouth is the belly of the beast..
A message to “northeast antifa”… Please Please BRING IT ON! You are nothing but a bunch of basement dwelling, pasty faced mama’s boys who don’t even realize you’ve been brainwashed into thinking America is a flawed and racist country.. (mostly by your socialist college professors).
Don’t fool yourself and think that you are in any way respected or feared…You are truly a JOKE! Do you honestly believe that the American people will sit back and watch you burn more cities and destroy people’s livelihoods in the name of fairness and equality?
Dartmouth College showed its true colors. Their move to cancel the presentation was no surprise. We all know if the speakers were of the “woke” mindset there would be nothing to see here.
They won’t fight a pitched, fair battle. They are far more dangerous. Please see my Comments on this thread.
In a normal world, we could count on law enforcement agencies like the FBI to investigate interstate threats of offering monetary inducement to commit violence…that is if the FBI were not in fact acting as the praetorian guard of the democrat party. The extreme left/antifa love to throw around accusations of racism, intolerance and homophobia at their political opponents. Their treatment of Mr. Ngo, a gay man and immigrant of Asian descent exemplifies their true hypocrisy .
The discussion on extremism was canceled due to extremists. Or maybe that was a contrived excuse?
I was one of the people who tried to attend the event. All i saw were a handful of bored security guards, students and a poor guy who took a bus all the way from Boston to see Ngo. There were no ANTIFA boogeymen to be seen. It probably was way too cold for them to come out of their parents basements !