After video footage showed a group of University of Arizona students chanting “Murder Patrol” at Border Patrol agents, two students will be charged with misdemeanors.
While two Border Patrol agents gave a presentation to the Criminal Justice Association, a student club, in a classroom on campus on March 19, some students stood outside the door calling them “Murder Patrol,” “murderers,” and “an extension of the KKK.”
After the agents left the classroom a group of students followed them until they left campus, continuing to chant.
In a letter to students and faculty on March 29, university President Robert Robbins said that the incident “was a dramatic departure from our expectations of respectful behavior and support for free speech on this campus.”
WATCH: Far-left protesters at the University of Arizona protest Border Patrol agents on campus by likening them to the KKK and calling them the Murder Patrol repeatedly.
h/t denisseisdead IG pic.twitter.com/iwPmNYRzFC
— Lone Conservative (@LoConservative) March 20, 2019
“University police determined today they will be charging two of the students with interference with the peaceful conduct of an educational institution, a misdemeanor,” he added.
Campus police are still investigating what happened and there may be more charges forthcoming; the office of the Dean of Students is also probing the case and may issue code of conduct violations to the students, Robbins said. Additionally, there will be a probe into the actions of University of Arizona employees that day.
“The University has policies and protocols for behavior and expression, and we are following those. However, I have assigned university staff to examine our processes to ensure we are working effectively to help prevent similar incidents in the future while maintaining the 1st Amendment right to free speech and protest,” Robbins wrote.
“At the core of these inquiries is the University of Arizona’s commitment to free speech. The student club and the CBP officers invited by the students should have been able to hold their meeting without disruption. Student protest is protected by our support for free speech, but disruption is not. As a community of scholars, we need to be more thoughtful and deliberative in how we approach these issues and work together to sustain vigorous conversations to find better solutions.”
Two days after the presentation and protest, officers from Associated Students of the University of Arizona, the school’s student government organization, wrote in a letter that visits by Border Patrol agents were “unacceptable.”
The group claimed that visits by agents “will always be immensely harmful” to illegal immigrants.
“Every single UA student, faculty, and staff deserves and has the right to feel safe within our campus community,” the letter stated.
The officers used the language “undocumented” instead of “illegal,” and increasingly common substitution that seeks to diminish the fact that some people are in the United States illegally.
A Statement to the Wildcat Community
由 Associated Students of the University of Arizona 发布于 2019年3月21日周四
Reactions to the letter were mixed.
“This right here is one of the few things that makes me proud to be a wildcat,” said one Facebook user.
“As Alumni I think this letter is completely out of line. If I were a BP agent and also a student would you make me NOT wear my uniform because it scares you. You people who preach inclusion, safeplaces, and diversity need to get a clue. Life is hard and unfair. You need to be Teaching self esteem and how to survive in this world,” wrote antoher.
“The Student Association doesn’t care about students who feel safer with Border Patrol on campus,” added another.
