Northrop Plaza at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities hosted a student protest for DEI, against ICE, and for a free Palestine this week. The UM event was organized by the Divest Coalition, Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Socialย (MALCS), and others. Donald Trump has been cracking down on colleges in an attempt to suppress free speech. What’s equally disturbing is that many universities have complied with the administration. The result? The ongoing suppression of student advocates and even their abduction. Now Minnesota activists are making sure the Twin Cities stay loud until there’s change.
From bringing back segregation for federal contractors to abducting protestors, the Trump administration has done plenty that’s worth protesting. Columbia University recently bowed to Trump’s demands that the school ban masks, discipline protestors, and more. This event follows on the heels of the abduction of Columbia protest organizer Mahmoud Khalil by ICE. Immigration and Customs Enforcement abducted Khalil earlier this month and attempted to deport him despite Khalil being a Green Card holder and permanent legal resident.
While the connection between DEI, free speech, ICE, and Palestine may not be obvious to some, it’s there. Students, academics, and professors are often the spearpoint for free speech issues. That’s the case with Israel’s human rights abuses as well as those of the United States. In an interview with MALCS, Emil (a student at the University of Minnesota) gave an elegant summary of the complicated issue, saying,
The reality of this is that […] everyone’s struggles are very connected. [….] The struggle for DEI, the struggle for free speech on campus, the struggle for Palestine – these are all connected, because they are all linked to one another’s liberation. We cannot speak up for Palestine if our own university is throwing us under the bus.
The U.S. government is using immigration enforcement as an excuse to silence, detain, and deport anyone it views as an enemy within. That includes anti-ICE protestors as well as those against censorship, mass incarceration, and the Palestinian genocide. Students and organizers are on the frontline of the battle for free speech on campus. Who stands with them and how that battle goes will help shape liberty’s trajectory in the U.S. The University of Minnesota protest is a flame that must become an inferno if the anti-fascist resistance is to succeed.
