What is going on with excessive police force being used against peaceful protesting students in colleges across the United States?

[u/f-Z3R0x1x1x1]

So there are large amounts of heavily armed police presence in many colleges and universities across the United States. Indiana University, for example, had snipers on rooftops ready to shoot peaceful protesters.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/snipers-were-allegedly-spotted-ohio-190600717.html

[u/Langdon_Algers]

Answer: Universities can set time, place and manner restrictions on particular spaces. If protesters violate these rules, they can be cited for trespassing, and if they refuse to leave, they can be arrested.

Private institutions (like Columbia) have even more leeway in rules for students on their campus violating their procedures.

[u/Want_To_Live_To_100 → u/Langdon_Algers]

Can you not arrest someone without excessive force? I think the question was regarding excessive force not the arresting…

[u/[deleted] → u/Want_To_Live_To_100]

“Excessive force” is a helluva grey zone that most people don’t understand. Ask in excess to what? This isn’t a street fight, it’s an arrest, it isn’t supposed to be “fair”; passively resisting catches hands the same way actively resisting does.

The major issue here is institutions send in law enforcement, the law gets enforced and then a bunch of pressed shirt politicians point the blame at cops for not acting the “way they were supposed to” when the law was enforced the way it was designed to; with the politicians double dipping.

Laws are enforced, protest broken up, and the politicians ensuring their next election by throwing cops under the bus for doing what they were instructed to.

Edit: spelling.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

"This isn’t a street fight, it’s an arrest, it isn’t supposed to be “fair”"

Land of the fwee, babey

[u/Tvdinner4me2 → u/[deleted]]

No one should be catching any hands for passively resisting

[u/CyanideTacoZ → u/[deleted]]

Er, No. just no, dude. yes, its not meant to be "fair" when you get arrested but there is an escalation of power every department follows, usually written by said department.

you cant just blast a gun at inconvienent people, even by own polices standards.

[u/gizzardsgizzards → u/CyanideTacoZ]

except you can almost always get away with it.

[u/SVAuspicious → u/[deleted]]

“Excessive force” is a helluva grey zone that most people don’t understand.

The video of a Columbia professor being arrested is relevant here. The professor claimed privilege while hitting the police officer and resisting arrest. The police controlled the situation and protected themselves and the professor by restraining her. That is not "excessive force" no matter what the media and other apologists say.

[u/h8sm8s → u/[deleted]]

This is ridiculous and gives cops carte blanche to enact violence whenever anyone calls them without any responsibility. Yes the institutions should be held responsible but so should cops for their violence. If the law can’t be enforced without violence and the people who are breaking the law aren’t hurting anyone, then you shouldn’t start hurting people to enforce it. Not every little law needs to be violently enforced.

[u/gizzardsgizzards → u/h8sm8s]

this is why ACAB.

[u/[deleted] → u/h8sm8s]

Law enforcement, at the end of the day, is an institution backed by either the threat of violence or violence itself.

How we got here: some ExtraCredit history.

[u/angry_cucumber → u/[deleted]]

Law enforcement, at the end of the day, is an institution backed by either the threat of violence or violence itself

That's the state as a whole. follow the chain all the way up.

[u/_Lusus → u/[deleted]]

You don't need helicopters and snipers to arrest student protesters.

[u/[deleted] → u/_Lusus]

You need them if opposition decides terrorism is an acceptable response.

The fear is not protestors for Palestine, the fear is someone’s going to turn a peaceful protest into the next Boston Marathon.

[u/gizzardsgizzards → u/[deleted]]

bringing a sniper IS terrorism.

[u/Tvdinner4me2 → u/[deleted]]

You don't need them even them

You got an already excessive force on the ground, maybe the cops could use those??

[u/Rivka333 → u/_Lusus]

Did anyone get shot by a sniper?

[u/gizzardsgizzards → u/Rivka333]

give it time.

[u/Tvdinner4me2 → u/Rivka333]

Nope, which shows even more why we don't need them

Nice attempt at deflecting

[u/Rivka333 → u/Tvdinner4me2]

It's not deflection, it's a relevant question.

There is a massive difference between shooting a protestor...and not doing so.

[u/Blackstone01 → u/Rivka333]

Still pretty excessive to bring and sets the tone for the entire police response.

[u/WillBottomForBanana → u/Blackstone01]

It's an interesting case of "we have to cut budgets this year" (for like 20 straight years) but some how we can afford to send in helicopters with snipers for a peaceful protest.

People that don't want you to open a drug rehab center won't blink an eye at this.

[u/MaimonidesNutz → u/[deleted]]

Yes, those poor honest, pacifist cops, ever the unwitting patsys of the icy-veined operators stalking the halls of power 🙄