Media Credit: Daniel Feeser Jeremy Atkinson holds a copy of "Socialist Worker" in the LBJ Library lobby. Several students gathered to protest the evening´s speaker, Ann Coulter.

Incessant heckling and shouting culminated in an arrest Tuesday night during a speech by Ann Coulter, an extreme right-wing pundit, at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum.

Shouts became so pervasive during the question-and-answer session that Coulter informed the organizers she would no longer take questions if the hecklers were not silenced. For a time, the shouts were considerably lessened, until the issue of gay marriage was broached.

Coulter said she supported the definition of marriage as between a man and a woman on the basis that a good woman civilizes and inspires a man to strive for something better, leading to a question that was met with a stunned silence.

"You say that you believe in the sanctity of marriage," said Ajai Raj, an English sophomore. "How do you feel about marriages where the man does nothing but fuck his wife up the ass?"

UT Police officers approached Raj to arrest him, resulting in a mass exodus of protesters chanting, "Let him go."

"The person had been disruptive the entire event," said Matt Hardigree, former Student Events Center president. "He took the opportunity to say something lewd and offensive and then made masturbatory gestures as he exited."

Hardigree said that Cheryl Wood from the Office of the Dean of Students spoke with some of the protestors before the event, and assorted members of the Distinguished Speakers Committee asked them to sit in the back if they had signs and to leave quietly if they wanted to leave.

According to Jeffrey Stockerwell, a friend of Raj, officers violently seized Raj and illegally searched him after his question.

Police have charged Raj with disorderly conduct, a Class C misdemeanor.

Representatives of the Austin People's Legal Collective were taking statements from everyone at the scene, in case it should be taken to court.

Raj worked at the Texan on a volunteer basis for a brief time in March.

Before the speech began, the International Socialist Organization protested outside of the library, with about 12 people holding up signs with slogans such as "Racist, sexist, anti-gay, right-wing bigot go away" and "Stop the new McCarthyism."

The booing began early into Coulter's speech, when she issued a joke to pro-choice advocates.

"I wonder why those 'I Heart Partial-Birth Abortion' T-shirts aren't selling better," she said, followed by a combination of cheers and jeers.

Coulter went on to decry the conservative media bias she said liberals complain of, and she challenged the undemocratic actions of liberals with respect to Iraq and to the judiciary.

"They're always trying to act like they're oppressed," she said. "So let's do it. Let's oppress them."

One student asked Coulter why universities and institutions place microphones in front of Coulter when she advocates terrorism against liberals, prompting Coulter to mention the strength of her book sales. Coulter has had four New York Times best sellers.

The $30,000 event was co-sponsored by the Texas Union Student Events Center and Student Endowed Centennial Lectureship Committee.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools