• gregorum@lemm.ee
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    6 months ago

    There is no form of effective protest of which is “acceptable”. Protests are meant to disrupt, to get as much attention as possible in order to spread a message and bring action, and those who oppose the protest will always object to that no matter what. That’s the point.

    For protesters to act so socked that they’re getting arrested for protesting against the power elites at their schools while on private property seems pretty naive to me. They should have known that this would be the eventual outcome and to have been prepared for it. Not to say it should have stopped the protests from happening— just that, for protests to be effective, it has to piss off the right people, and you’ll likely get arrested, free speech be damned.

    • Anas@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      For protesters to act so socked that they’re getting arrested for protesting against the power elites at their schools while on private property seems pretty naive to me.

      I’m really not sure what the appropriate reaction should be. Are they meant to celebrate getting arrested? It’s an expected outcome, but that doesn’t make it right.

      • gregorum@lemm.ee
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        6 months ago

        don’t be obtuse

        It’s an expected outcome, but that doesn’t make it right.

        i didn’t say that

        I’m really not sure what the appropriate reaction should be.

        not to be surprised that it happened, for one. and, while universities do generally, have an atmosphere which support free expression, and many even have somewhat permissive protest policies, they’re private property. now, i’m not defending the actions of the universities, but i’m saying that getting arrested for protesting on private property vs while protesting on public property are two different things-- and one isn’t nearly as outrageous as the other.

        part of civil disobedience is getting arrested.

        • HasturInYellow@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          I think it’s the fact that they are arrested and very rarely actually charged with a crime, which essentially amounts to state sanctioned kidnapping.

          But otherwise I do agree with you.

          • gregorum@lemm.ee
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            6 months ago

            That’s one way to look at it. Another is that, rather than truly outrageously throwing the book at these protesters, the worst they got was a massive inconvenience.

            Now, I’m not trying to downplay getting arrested - even brutally so. I have been arrested at protests by some nasty pigs who beat the shit out of me, and I have spend nights in jail as a result. I know how bad that shit sucks.

            What I’m saying is that it’s what they signed up for. And if they want to protest police brutality, go do that, too, but don’t act all shocked that this happened.

            Edit: in an ideal world, protesters would be treated with dignity and respect— but if we lived in an ideal world, there would be no need to protest.

            • HasturInYellow@lemmy.world
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              6 months ago

              Fair points. I just really hate the state monopoly on violence that they love to use almost exclusively on leftwing protests. If other such protesters were arrested as well, it would be less grating on my morals.

        • Anas@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          To be honest I haven’t seen anyone act surprised because they’re getting arrested for protesting. Then again, I’m not American, and the only news I’m reading are here on lemmy (and reddit).

    • WraithGear@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      If the point is to be disruptive, then loudly pointing out they are getting arrested for protesting is on brand and should be expected. The real question is why are you confused they continue to protest after being arrested?

    • meeeeetch@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      When you’re paying 40k a year to attend their hedge fund with a sports team, there shouldn’t be much of any place that’s off limits to you.

      And it seems rare that college kids get arrested en masse. So they’re right to be at least a little surprised that this protest got cracked down on so hard.