URBANA — Members of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression visited the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s campus on Tuesday to support students’ free speech. Their visit followed a statement from the U of I announcing it would review Title VI reports of a controversial social media post made by the Illini Republicans, a registered student organization.
In a public letter to the University, FIRE said the review “raises serious constitutional concerns” and urged it to cease the review and “consider adopting a position of institutional neutrality on political and social questions unrelated to university governance.”
“This is a public University campus, so the administration has to follow the First Amendment, and we’re here to remind them of that,” said William Harris, a strategic campaign specialist for FIRE.
During the visit, FIRE set up a table on the Main Quad and distributed flyers with dos and don’ts of protesting on college campuses and provided materials for passersby to make posters.
Jessie Appleby, an attorney for FIRE and the author of its letter to the U of I, said the First Amendment sets a high bar for what kind of speech isn’t protected.
“The First Amendment protects advocating violence in general,” she said. “It protects also celebrating violence. Speech is unprotected when you get to the level of a true threat.”
Appleby said a true threat must be a serious expression to harm an individual or small group of people. Generalized threats or politically charged hyperbole are protected.
The Illini Republicans Instagram post, which garnered thousands of negative reactions on social media and drew the attention of statewide media outlets, included a statement expressing support for Immigration Enforcement and Customs, calling immigrants “foreign invaders” and describing protestors as “radical, un-American, and treasonous.”
The post also included a graphic of Minnesota protestor Alex Pretti, who was shot and killed by an ICE agent January 24, kneeling on the ground with an agent pointing a gun to his head. The graphic was later removed from the post.
Appleby said that FIRE hoped the visit would help educate students and the public on their First Amendment rights.
“We wanted to come here to hopefully press the point that speech is protected, political advocacy is protected — even when a lot of others find the speech offensive or even hateful,” she said.
Will Lutz, a U of I freshman, said he’s concerned about the state of free speech in this country.
He said while the Illini Republicans post should be protected, that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be scrutinized by the public.
“We can say [what] we want but our words matter,” Lutz said. “It can affect the person sitting next to you in class. It can affect the professor. It can affect your family.”
Several members of the Illini Republicans joined FIRE on the Quad, making posters advocating for free speech. While the general members did not provide comment on the social media post or the ongoing review, the group’s president Finlay McIntosh shared the group’s official statement:
“Our organization supports an America First approach to public policy, including support for ICE and DHS carrying out their lawful duties under US immigration law. Our advocacy is focused on policy and enforcement of existing law, not on targeting or threatening individuals or groups. As a registered student organization, we engage in political expression and debate consistent with our views and with the protections afforded to student organizations at a public university.”
McIntosh gave the same statement to IPM News earlier this month regarding the initial post.
FIRE’s letter requested a “substantive response” from the U of I by Feb. 18 confirming it would end its review of the organization and not impose any disciplinary action.
Patrick Wade, spokesperson for the U of I, provided comment on the letter, saying they plan to respond.
“We have also received a high volume of Title VI reports related to the Illini Republicans posting and are required by federal law to review and process those reports,” Wade said in an email. “In doing so, we will continue to follow our normal protocols, which include First Amendment considerations.”
FIRE shared a blog post encouraging people to write letters to the U of I demanding an end to the review, calling it a “sham investigation” and expressing concern about a potential chilling effect on other forms of free speech on campus.
“If we can’t speak across differences, that is when violence does take place,” said FIRE campaign specialist William Harris.
Free speech enables the sharing of opinions, he said, and provides opportunities to engage across differences rather than resorting to physical coercion.
“Free speech is the life blood of a free society, and political violence is everything that we think we’re fighting against by supporting free speech in instances like these,” Harris said.