Originally published November 11 2015
Mizzou police ask students to report 'hurtful speech' as university replaces free speech with Orwellian political correctness
by J. D. Heyes
(NaturalNews) The rabid, radical Leftists organizing and encouraging racialist student protests on the University of Missouri campus now have a powerful ally: campus police who are now also assuming the role, literally, of "speech police."
According to an email sent by the University of Missouri Police Department to students earlier this week, the department is asking everyone to report "hateful and/or hurtful speech" so they can pursue disciplinary action, as reported by Campus Reform.
The email, provided to the education-related news outlet on condition of anonymity by a student who chose not to be identified, instructs recipients to "call the police immediately" (emphasis in original) if they are a witness to any such incidents. Police have also asked students to collect as much info as they can about the incident, who is allegedly involved and so forth, so police can better identify the him or her.
"[MUPD] is asking individuals who witness incidents of hateful and/or harmful speech or actions to... [c]all the police immediately," the email says.
"Delays, including posting information to social media, can often reduce the chances of identifying the responsible parties," it continues. "While cases of hateful and hurtful speech are not crimes, if the individual(s) identified are students, MU's Office of Student Conduct can take disciplinary action."
Maj. Brian Weimer, a spokesman for MUPD, told Campus Reform that he is not aware of any specific incidents having been reported as of publication time. But he said the email had not gone out long before the website contacted the department.
So, what exactly is "hate speech"?
"We just want to make sure everything is dealt with properly," he said of the email. "In order for us to take action, we need to have a report of it, not just get it out on social media."
Left out of the email, of course, was any definition of what actually constitutes "hate speech," which means incidents of it are totally arbitrary – it can mean any speech that someone finds offensive or just claims was "offensive." And the university's meek and cowed administration is no doubt prepared to lower the boom on anyone unlucky enough to be accused, given the recent loss of the president and chancellor, and the current mood of protesters (who are making new demands of the school as we speak).
But what if the "hurtful speech" is being committed by student protesters or worse, university professors? That's what Natural News editor Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, thought about speech coming from Dr. Melissa Click, a mass communications professor at MU who is helping lead student protests. In recent days, she was caught on camera threatening a student reporter with physical violence while violating his First Amendment rights.
A football analogy to explain why Leftists shout down their opponents
But apparently the MUPD isn't interested – really interested – in equal justice under the law, only in the politically correct application of it. Mike Adams called the number provided in the email to inform the university police of Click's hateful, threatening speech and actions. After informing the officer who answered the phone that he wanted to file a complaint, Adams was curtly informed that he had to do so in person before being hung up on.
And really, the university isn't interested either. For all its claims to be seeking "diversity," administrators really only want what the radical professors and student protesters want – an echo chamber. They don't want to their Left-wing worldview to be challenged because they don't have the intellectual capacity to debate someone with a difference of opinion. It's like a cornerback in football who is constantly penalized for holding wide receivers; if the cornerback was good enough to cover receivers properly, he wouldn't have to hold them.
That's why Leftists like Click and members of the student body who are "protesting" (at a university run by the very liberals they claim to support!) shout down opponents and threaten them with physical violence. It's because they can't "cover" them.
Sources:
CampusReform.org
Breitbart.com
NaturalNews.com
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