In Reply to: was there any channel of communication open posted by blindness on May 02, 2024 at 09:56:29
there definitely should have been and it should have been initiated by the administration as soon as the encampment began to take shape. And if there was communication, the University should have made clear that no good faith negotiation could take place without replacing the encampment with daytime protests in designated (though central and visible) areas, and a failure to agree with those basic terms would lead to forcible removal. Maybe that's exactly how it all went down? If so, well, then I'm not sure what could have been done.
Having said all that, the issue with the counter-protestors/vigilantes/terrorists is a separate one altogether. What they did was repugnant and if the cops truly did allow them to make hay for hours while they stood idly by, then I hope they're held to account for that.