(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Excessive Force By Georgia State Patrol to Quell Peaceful Anti-War Protests at Emory University [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-04-25 As many students across the nation protest the Israel-Hamas war at college campuses and urge colleges to divest from military investments, university administrators and State officials are increasingly relying upon State Law Enforcement Agencies to quell the peaceful, yet vociferous demonstrations. Although the students and even some faculty members are exercising their First Amendment rights in common areas of the campus, the administrators would rather shut down the protests which they perceive as a nuisance or a prelude to more unruly demonstrations involving inter-ethnic strife. Unfortunately, even when the protests have been free of violence, vandalism and hate, the police have reacted in a heavy-handed fashion by using tasers, tear gas, pepper balls and forcible restraint on pavements. This is what occurred on the campus of Emory University in Georgia today. Neither the students nor two faculty members, an Economics professor and the Chair of the Philosophy Department, were spared from the disproportionate police reaction. See the video from CNN here: www.cnn.com/… 11 Georgia State Democratic lawmakers were sufficiently appalled that they signed a statement calling on law enforcement to eschew violence. To wit, johnnyrivera.us/… Similarly, at the University of Texas at Austin, 57 protesters were arrested and journalists were knocked down after the Governor called the State Troopers, some mounted on horses, to remove the students. The students were calling on the University to divest from the arms manufacturing industry which they contend profits from the death in the Israel-Hamas conflict. UT Austin has invested $52.5 million in the arms industry. Although the Governor claimed that the protests were anti-Semitic, Jeremy Suri, a Jewish professor of history at the school, disagreed with that specious inference: [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/4/25/2237333/-Excessive-Force-By-Georgia-State-Patrol-to-Quell-Peaceful-Anti-War-Protests-at-Emory-University?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/