University of California at Berkeley, home to the 1960s free speech movement, is in the midst of a new First Amendment dust-up.
On March 2, the campus hosted a forum of San Francisco-area professionals to discuss creative endeavors among among Bay Area professionals. Musical artist Bassnectar, Buddhist priest Peter Coyote and Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich were all present for the well-attended event.
In the middle of a discussion between Ulrich and Salesforce.com founder Marc Benioff, Student Labor Committee (SLC) members jumped up on stage. One group member is alleged to have assaulted Benioff during the protest before campus police removed the protesters.
SLC said their intention was to draw attention to alleged unfair labor practices by the university’s hiring of subcontracted workers on campus. But the incident is one of several across the country, where student groups have attempted to stop another individual or group from speaking.
A conglomeration of students, administrators and faculty members at Berkeley rose to the occasion Tuesday, blasting SLC members in an op-ed explaining why the group’s use of physical violence to suppress others’ views defies the point they were trying to make.
“All groups at UC Berkeley have the right to free expression, but none have the right to prevent others from doing likewise, least of all by using violence,” the op-ed authors wrote. “It is a moral obligation of anyone who cares about the free exchange of ideas, the cornerstone of any democratic society, to condemn such behavior in unambiguous terms.”
The SLC replied with a sternly-worded Facebook post justifying its action. The group has since removed the post.
Benioff has not said whether he will press charges against the group member who was believed to have assaulted him.
