In Reply to: Peaceful assembly and protest? Yes. Encampments and checkpoints? posted by nachosgrande on May 02, 2024 at 09:15:02
The phrasing makes it sound like students were stopping people from moving around in the campus. If there was that going on as well, I feel like that would have been a bigger deal with the campus police from the get go.
What I heard is that the checkpoint was about who is going to be allowed into the encampment. You could only go in if someone in the encampment would vouch for you. They wanted to avoid agitators in their midst and I think they did a good job at that. There were apparently many people who tried to get in and then complained on social media that they are not allowed past a checkpoint. My guess is those were the ones who wanted to get in just so that they could shape the protest from the inside.
Perhaps the university could have sat at a negotiations table and discuss the students' demands with good will?