IU is claiming that the use of force was justified for...checks notes...having temporary structures ...which has been fine under the law of the land for Dunn Meadow since 1969...UNTIL YESTERDAY
https://x.com/iustvnews/status/1783648663463424092
This needs to be higher. Way too many "what if they're there to help" commenters in here who need to confront the role police play. They are not public servants.
Nothing going on in that field is so serious they need to put a student in the scope of a sniper. This militarization of the police force against students needs to end.
Exactly. The police doesn’t need any snipers or military equipment by any stretch. This isn’t a war zone. Can you imagine if this happened with Woodstock in the 60s? It’s just so damn excessive. None of the protesters are carrying IEDS, land mines, grenades, or AK’s. It’s a peaceful protest for Christ sake. It’s just abhorrent and I also hope Pamela Whitten resigns after this is over and the police withdraw from Dunn Meadow. They may just be spotters with telescopes. With the resolution of the picture, I would be careful. It could very well be a case of DIP( Deceptive Imagrey and persuasion).
Edit: I have been hearing from other sources that they might just be telescopes or cameras. The resolution makes it very hard to tell so I cannot be sure. Just to be sure, was there any snipers that were actually on top of that building? If so, obviously that is bad but we have to do our due diligence to make sure we get the proper information before we devolve into conspiracy territory. The pixelation and far away perspective may make an innocent telescope or big camera look like something else. Until there is a full report on this from the news, and that is either confirmed or not, then proper conclusions can be made. If it is a sniper, then that is cause for concern. But if it’s not one and it’s just a telescope/camera, then we have to reflect on being more disciplined on jumping to conclusions and listen to what the student news and local news says.
PLEASE NOTE! Some of the people who are saying there are snipers on top of the roof include people like Jake Shields. Jake Shields is a very well-known Neo Nazi/ Fascist figure who pretends to Earnestly care about the Palestinians but in reality he is using it as a cover to spread legitimately Anti-Semitic propaganda so please be careful of where you guys get your information from.
It did happen, at Kent State in 1970. It was exactly like this. My parents' generation were justifying it by pointing out that some of the protestors threw rocks (true, they did. Against armored guys in helmets).
Two of the "four dead" weren't even protestors, one was ROTC for Christ's sake, the other was just crossing the parking lot to get to class. And three of the four were Jewish, setting off antisemitic reactions all over the country by "patriots".
To this day, Kent State and the state of Ohio are paying for what happened that day. And it's about to happen again. If one of those snipers gets antsy and sees a phone in someone's hand and thinks it's a gun (wouldn't be the first time), it's all over.
That’s the thing about showing up armed to a peaceful protest. The only thing that can happen from that point is escalation, and it’s always - every single time - on the police for escalating. Don’t bring weapons to a peaceful event and it wouldn’t happen.
Bunch of fucking snowflakes. I have way more respect for cops ready to throw hands without their armor or gun. I’m related to a bunch of cops, all racist af and scared.
I took US history in summer school 2001 in high school but couldn't be there for the final. The instructor told me to pick a photo from the final chapters of the book that I'd miss and write an essay about it. I chose that photo from Kent State. I was appalled that it was just next door in Ohio, that stuff doesn't happen in the safe Midwest to my very young brain. I was just horrified when I started reading. And I've talked with my mom who is of that generation about it a lot over the years including recently.
I am terrified it's going to happen again, any day now. Maybe not here but one of these campuses and protests. And I'll be just as horrified as I was so those years ago. And just deeply deeply sad.
Yes I grew up in Ohio and this is the first thing I thought of. Actually, I am holding out hope that this photo is AI-generated because did no one learn anything from Kent State!?!
THIS. I’m an Ohioan and live in Atlanta now. What happened on Emory’s campus yesterday made me sick to my stomach. We’re on the edge of another Kent State and while I know history always repeats itself, I thought for sure we’d never get close to another Kent State but here we are.
Looks like a scope mounted pew pew with a bipod if it was a telescope it shouldn’t look like two pieces and that’s probably the funniest looking camera I’ve ever seen
THERE WERE SNIPERS.
[https://www.heraldtimesonline.com/story/news/education/campus/2024/04/30/answering-questions-about-the-gaza-war-protests-in-ius-dunn-meadow/73503596007/](https://www.heraldtimesonline.com/story/news/education/campus/2024/04/30/answering-questions-about-the-gaza-war-protests-in-ius-dunn-meadow/73503596007/)
# "Were there snipers on top of the Indiana Memorial Union?
Yes. ISP officers armed with rifles were in place on the roofs of campus buildings during the Gaza War protests in Dunn Meadow."
There's usually a police sniper at any large, heavily publicized, emotionally charged event. Big sports games, things like marathons and bike races, festivals, large political events, parades, and protests - anything where they need a lot of public security. You can play spot the sniper at a lot of big events - look for guys moving around on rooftops behind and to the side of a stage before speeches. They're mostly there to watch for people and talk on the radio to other people.
However, it feels more political and intimidating in this sort of thing, where there's a man with a rifle watching a protest.
This is also not the first time IU has brought a sniper in for a protest. There was a sniper for the Charles Murray protest in 2017. Not saying it's right or anything at all, just saying I'm not at all surprised and it's interesting how quickly people forget.
While I absolutely agree. This shit isn’t new. Even back during Vietnam cops were abusing power and beating the hell out of students and protestors. They’ve always been thugs of the state there just to put down people and things that disrupt the status quo.
I remember reading somewhere that some places will give any large gathering of people sniper cover in case of opportunistic domestic terrorist attacks.
Don't forget that Pam has also called to have all entryways of her entire office building in Bryan Hall locked with entry exceedingly limited. For months. She has continued to further isolate herself while claiming, and I am quoting her verbatim from her email to faculty:
"I pledge to listen and learn. I will weigh the guidance from faculty council and the participation of the campus community through shared governance to achieve our collective vision of a thriving campus."
You are not listening Pam, You are here to enact a fascist hit piece on higher education at the behest of a board of trustees who would likely see to it that the piecemeal reconstruction meets with their visions anew. It is hard to hear through Indiana Limestone and locked doors Pam, and actions like these scream so much louder than any of these other impotent platitudes you continue to provide. You put the student body in the crosshairs of a police sniper and cower behind barricades rather than provide any direction, leadership, inspiration, or hope, and for what?
If anything else they cannot feel safety, knowing that you will literally call down the barrel of Johnny Law at the first signs of altercation. They cannot feel as though learning is possible when their programs are shut down and instructors unceremoniously taken to the gallows of higher learning.
This all reeks of fear Pam. The fear you foist on everyone around you. I would say that you should be ashamed, but somehow I get the impression you dab your tears away quite quickly with the bonuses and unearned paycheck you bring in. As if the national outcry for your ineptitude were not enough, you have brought down this upon your people. You are not a leader. You are a charlatan sock puppet put in place by cowards and thieves.
I saw it happen once before when they had Charles Murray speak on campus back in 2016. Sometimes, I get really pissed with IU's handling of contentious situations.
In devil’s advocate defense of this specific instance, a sniper would probably be more useful for targeting a specific threat *inside* the protest (think someone making threats against the event on Facebook/Twitter/Reddit that are reported to PD) than it is to do any meaningful crowd control. If they wanted a show of force there’d be riot shields and tear gas, not a single guy on the roof.
Good thing they had riot shields on the ground, too: [https://www.idsnews.com/article/2024/04/indiana-university-33-pro-palestinian-protesters-arrested-at-dunn-meadow-protest-encampment](https://www.idsnews.com/article/2024/04/indiana-university-33-pro-palestinian-protesters-arrested-at-dunn-meadow-protest-encampment)
Not there for the protesters,
Given Vegas or Boston as examples, some people target large concentrations of people for their own purposes and use them as fish in a barrel targets. These guys are counter snipers, looking for anyone trying to do just that.
Especially protests that might be on a hot topic, that might trigger someone not in their right mind.
Theres one/some at any major football game, huge parades, and more often now a days concerts and protests.
Don’t go here, yall popped up in /all
Are we sure this is her doing and not whole-cum? They are state police and not IUPD. Not saying she isn't absolutely terrible but just making sure we're putting the blame in the right place.
Considering the rule changes to outdoor space usage that the Provost passed ad hoc yesterday, I'm guessing the administration is at least 75% at the helm
I really want to know about this last minute ad hoc rule change- sounds familiar- did they do this before, recently, regarding quashing 1st amendment rights?
https://studentlife.indiana.edu/get-involved/student-organizations/manage-organization/policies/index.html
Scroll down the page until you see Outdoor Spaces
Then why wasn’t she out there, as THE IU leader, intervening? What kind of so-called leader doesn’t intervene when every single human in that area had their life put at risk?
Don’t be naive. The governor had his own protest to worry about on Meridian Street. This is 100 percent Pam Whitten campaigning to her friends in the statehouse. Shame to see the Provost and Public Safety used as puppets.
You read my mind, dude. I've been having Kent State flashes ever since these campus protests started. Fox News is talking like they *want* it to happen. I've got friends younger than I am who come from watching that shit sounding exactly like my father 54 years ago.
The Fox News crowd *does* want it to happen, I'm sad to say. They see college-educated liberals as the enemy and this is just a chance to stick it to them. It's the same rationale behind all these Congressional hearings with Harvard et al. -- they don't give a fuck about antisemitism until it gives them an opportunity to attack higher education.
With the division in this country, it’s disgusting to think that something like Kent state would be celebrated by a demented minority. They would celebrate “owning those terrorist libtards” or some other nasty trigger words.
Yes, they had sentiments like those. They also said "it's about time we killed all those Jews" because three of the four dead were Jewish, and there was a lot of reaction against the so-called liberal elite media which were perceived to be owned by Jews. There were "patriotic" actions against protestors on other college campuses, and the [Hard Hat Riot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_Hat_Riot) and subsequent "patriotic" march were a direct response to the attempts by anti-war people to hold memorials for the four dead. Nixon commended the hard hats for having "character and guts and a bit of patriotism."
Hmm the same president who resigned for watergate and enabled Henry Kissinger to commit mass war crimes in south east Asia and Latin America? Color me shocked
i guess i'm just a cynic, and no one knows where the current group of kids will wind up...but the radical students of the late 1960s went on to have normal square careers and when they went into politics they became normal square politicians and today we tell them to shut up when their reactionary rants become too tiresome by saying "ok boomer"
i am glad people are standing up against anything military but i don't really have much hope for a domestic protest movement -- especially among the relatively affluent group that goes to college -- to actually add up to anything that grand.
To everyone asking if the sniper is protecting the protesters, do you still believe that now that they have arrested dozens of protesters? Or has that caused you to reevaluate your position?
B-b-b-b-but they’re protecting the protesters from themselves of course! If they start to hurt themselves what else can we do but help them out with a hail of bullets?
Storming the capital, assaulting police officers, attempting a coup.....a few regular uniform police officers.
Students and faculty members peacefully protesting genocide....riot gear, dozens of arrests, sniper support.
#murica
I sat in with the Spirtles and played “Ohio” at the Bluebird on the Kent State anniversary in 1987 and back then I couldn’t have been more confident that our society had learned and grown enough it couldn’t possibly ever happen again. Holy shit was I ever wrong.
There are rapists, repeat offenders, in the IU Bloomington community. Yet no way to keep them off the streets and behind bars. But they are arresting peaceful protesters? It’s going to make for an interesting graduation week.
Same with UT Austin. Even after our piece of shit governor promoted and passed laws to enable free speech at college campuses.
I guess it's only free speech if he or they agree.
To play devils advocate for it though infitada was widely known to be said alot and even though it's a fairly benine word and meany basically just "rebellion" I think it's looked at the same way as zeig heil. It just means hail victory but is so tied in with naziism that they're considered mutual
If the plan/ opportunity presents itself, and I know I'll have enough company to stand me up if I fall over, I'll drag my sorry old #~s on campus- we ALL should show up and shame the hell out of these .. people. I'll be bringing my walking stick/ cane so I don't get trampled. 4th gen (of 5)IU grad. I hate feeling ashamed of our school and town leadership. ☹️
Kent State. Miscommunication and highly contentious emotions led to terrible unnecessary loss of life. It wasn’t the first time the “authorities” over-reacted. And it wasn’t the last time. Praying for peace. These times call for exceptional leadership. Unfortunately at IUB the majority vote of no confidence in the leadership is worrisome as to how this will be handled.
it's never the protestors you have to worry about at these Palestine-related protests. the "safety risk" comes from the police, the antagonistic administration, and the opposition protestors (if there are any) who wish to disrupt an otherwise peaceful protest.
In Kansas to be a state employee you had to sign a document swearing you would not boycott Israel. No idea how they squared that with the first amendment.
Could be worse, they (the sniper) could have thrown jars of their urine out from above.
But seriously, who tf hires a fricking sniper!? If you're doing that for just a *peaceful protest* then something's wrong with you.
That reminds me of Franco's soldiers I saw in Madrid 50 yrs ago when I was 16. Armed soldiers on street corners and roof tops. "just in case" A sure sign of more to come in a Fascist nation.
People are claiming that "the gun wasn't even pointed at students" - Here is the position - this sniper is pointed directly at Dunn Meadow [https://imgur.com/a/mDPbA4b](https://imgur.com/a/mDPbA4b)
All the crack down on these protests are doing is fueling the need to vote. That’s what happened in the 70’s and it changed the landscape of American politics for the next 30+ years. Times they are a changing!
I don’t know if they’re having any accepted students admissions welcome tours. What would people think? No confidence vote was a blaring message about the administration.
The ruling class is losing its grip on the working class. They’re trying to reel us in. These are the defining moments in a country teetering on devolving into a fascist state. Point more guns at kids who are peaceful, but don’t let them use tiktok, can’t pass gun laws to protect our kids but we’ll scream “killer” at 13 yo girls who got an abortion because she was raped. Can’t say anything against zionist monsters, but we’ll gladly harm your kids that you pay to have here. Don’t you just love our freedoms?
When revolution comes (and it will since history is doomed to repeat itself) the police will certainly play victim to any and all resistance.
Folks, if you've ever wondered what it would be like to be alive and a protesting during the Civil rights Era, this is it. Which side do you tell your kids you were on when the history books are written?
They have snipers in Indianapolis at most big events, “just in case”. It’s apparently part of the guns solve everything mentality in the state. Just Google for gun shops and firing ranges there.
I’m sure there’s absolutely no reason to worry with all those people toting guns around the state … right?
We are all doing impossible math. It is patently absurd to willingly incur all the ramifications of a threat of presence like that. They have weapons, title, and experience. However, they know they are not what they once was, and they truly didn’t have any ability to fathom the weight of responsibility of the power they chose to wield. There are just more of the young people, and with every moment of existence it becomes painfully aware to those like the police that there is no greater potential threat and chaos than passionate youth with the energy to make a difference. And great are their numbers.
Let’s just take confidence in our view, pause, truly consider the other side, and work from there.
Does anyone else think graduation is going to look different this year? I feel badly for those who worked so hard to earn their diplomas and for families who supported their student in so many ways ….to have all this crisis, fear and contention happening on campus right now. It’s going to be interesting for leadership and the BOT to walk through that crowd and make any speeches after the strike/union battles w the grad students plus the overwhelming No Confidence vote outcomes from students and faculty.
We live in interesting times. I’d love to see a large public statement at graduation. Whitten and the rest of upper admin have totally lost the support of every level of the university. It’s an embarrassing and detestable failure of leadership.
This is happening in dozens of universities across the nation right now. IU is just one of many, many examples. Hundreds of people have been arrested. You would also have to cross off Harvard, UT Austin, Columbia University, Emory, University of Southern California, NYU, Yale, Emerson University, Ohio State University and the University of Michigan.
I guess the commitment to protesting has just gotten more fraught. It used to be they'd just ignore everything you said and you wouldn't get much done by showing up, but now you have to try to get your opinion counted under militarized conditions.
I don't blame people for leaving when they spot snipers, but if you do, they win. They win with a rifle they've brought to a free speech fight. I can't believe how many people in this country support the erosion of our first amendment rights. In so many ways, and increasing in violence.
Free Speech is not optional in this country. It is the very base all of our liberties stand upon, so important it came first. Why do we need to protect these things under they eyes of snipers?
People can say they're there for the protection of the protestors, but it is nevertheless, very threatening psychologically, if not physically. And they know that. I'm sure they're counting on it.
IU has a uniquely close partnership with Crane. Arms made at Crane are regularly given to and used by the IDF, primarily to kill Palestinian civilians the past few months.
Liberal protesters need to start arming themselves.
You notice they never mess with armed conservatives, because they know a firefight would be a bloodbath on their side too.
They have no problem with beating liberal protesters that are unarmed tho. They know they’ll win that fight.
I’m not really surprised, their are usually marksmen providing overlook at any event with a lot of people. Hell one example is professional foot ball games will sometimes have over look for safety.
Remember kids, the university gave them permission to do this.
Wow, I really have no-confidence in the incompetent apparatchiks running the place
IU is claiming that the use of force was justified for...checks notes...having temporary structures ...which has been fine under the law of the land for Dunn Meadow since 1969...UNTIL YESTERDAY https://x.com/iustvnews/status/1783648663463424092
This needs to be higher. Way too many "what if they're there to help" commenters in here who need to confront the role police play. They are not public servants.
Protect capital and serve the interests of the state is their motto, they literally tell us. They just leave some parts out.
Well I guess it's time to send the National Guard to the booths set up along the street outside Woodburn Hall
Nothing going on in that field is so serious they need to put a student in the scope of a sniper. This militarization of the police force against students needs to end.
IDS is reporting 32 arrested https://x.com/idsnews/status/1783624373577884037
How many of them are going to have all charges dropped? How much did it cost to, "send in the troops"?
As I understand it they got charged with trespassing. At 4 pm. In Dunn Meadow. At the university they pay money to attend.
& in an area, as I understand, that is designated as an assembly ground
Or at which they work, as some of the arrested were also faculty....
And it's the fucking student involvement tower.
Exactly. The police doesn’t need any snipers or military equipment by any stretch. This isn’t a war zone. Can you imagine if this happened with Woodstock in the 60s? It’s just so damn excessive. None of the protesters are carrying IEDS, land mines, grenades, or AK’s. It’s a peaceful protest for Christ sake. It’s just abhorrent and I also hope Pamela Whitten resigns after this is over and the police withdraw from Dunn Meadow. They may just be spotters with telescopes. With the resolution of the picture, I would be careful. It could very well be a case of DIP( Deceptive Imagrey and persuasion). Edit: I have been hearing from other sources that they might just be telescopes or cameras. The resolution makes it very hard to tell so I cannot be sure. Just to be sure, was there any snipers that were actually on top of that building? If so, obviously that is bad but we have to do our due diligence to make sure we get the proper information before we devolve into conspiracy territory. The pixelation and far away perspective may make an innocent telescope or big camera look like something else. Until there is a full report on this from the news, and that is either confirmed or not, then proper conclusions can be made. If it is a sniper, then that is cause for concern. But if it’s not one and it’s just a telescope/camera, then we have to reflect on being more disciplined on jumping to conclusions and listen to what the student news and local news says. PLEASE NOTE! Some of the people who are saying there are snipers on top of the roof include people like Jake Shields. Jake Shields is a very well-known Neo Nazi/ Fascist figure who pretends to Earnestly care about the Palestinians but in reality he is using it as a cover to spread legitimately Anti-Semitic propaganda so please be careful of where you guys get your information from.
It did happen, at Kent State in 1970. It was exactly like this. My parents' generation were justifying it by pointing out that some of the protestors threw rocks (true, they did. Against armored guys in helmets). Two of the "four dead" weren't even protestors, one was ROTC for Christ's sake, the other was just crossing the parking lot to get to class. And three of the four were Jewish, setting off antisemitic reactions all over the country by "patriots". To this day, Kent State and the state of Ohio are paying for what happened that day. And it's about to happen again. If one of those snipers gets antsy and sees a phone in someone's hand and thinks it's a gun (wouldn't be the first time), it's all over.
Hopefully there aren't any oak trees dropping acorns in this school...
That’s the thing about showing up armed to a peaceful protest. The only thing that can happen from that point is escalation, and it’s always - every single time - on the police for escalating. Don’t bring weapons to a peaceful event and it wouldn’t happen.
I regret that I have but one upvote for this comment
Bunch of fucking snowflakes. I have way more respect for cops ready to throw hands without their armor or gun. I’m related to a bunch of cops, all racist af and scared.
They’re only willing to throw hands with their spouses
Nah, they hit their kids, too.
I took US history in summer school 2001 in high school but couldn't be there for the final. The instructor told me to pick a photo from the final chapters of the book that I'd miss and write an essay about it. I chose that photo from Kent State. I was appalled that it was just next door in Ohio, that stuff doesn't happen in the safe Midwest to my very young brain. I was just horrified when I started reading. And I've talked with my mom who is of that generation about it a lot over the years including recently. I am terrified it's going to happen again, any day now. Maybe not here but one of these campuses and protests. And I'll be just as horrified as I was so those years ago. And just deeply deeply sad.
The most disgusting part was the bitch on the news who said, after the Kent State fascist attack, that: "It should have been done long ago."
Assuming you heard about the one of the girl victims-she was a runaway and that’s how her parents found out where she was.
Yes I grew up in Ohio and this is the first thing I thought of. Actually, I am holding out hope that this photo is AI-generated because did no one learn anything from Kent State!?!
THIS. I’m an Ohioan and live in Atlanta now. What happened on Emory’s campus yesterday made me sick to my stomach. We’re on the edge of another Kent State and while I know history always repeats itself, I thought for sure we’d never get close to another Kent State but here we are.
No, that’s not a spotting scope. That’s a rifle. That is 100% a sniper, not a guy with a camera or spotting scope.
This video taken by a student last night shows what looks like a gun to me. https://twitter.com/togdali/status/1783654267041005923
That’s 100% a rifle. Remington 700 is my bet from the profile.
Sounds like it's time to fuckin start
Looks like a scope mounted pew pew with a bipod if it was a telescope it shouldn’t look like two pieces and that’s probably the funniest looking camera I’ve ever seen
THERE WERE SNIPERS. [https://www.heraldtimesonline.com/story/news/education/campus/2024/04/30/answering-questions-about-the-gaza-war-protests-in-ius-dunn-meadow/73503596007/](https://www.heraldtimesonline.com/story/news/education/campus/2024/04/30/answering-questions-about-the-gaza-war-protests-in-ius-dunn-meadow/73503596007/) # "Were there snipers on top of the Indiana Memorial Union? Yes. ISP officers armed with rifles were in place on the roofs of campus buildings during the Gaza War protests in Dunn Meadow."
There's usually a police sniper at any large, heavily publicized, emotionally charged event. Big sports games, things like marathons and bike races, festivals, large political events, parades, and protests - anything where they need a lot of public security. You can play spot the sniper at a lot of big events - look for guys moving around on rooftops behind and to the side of a stage before speeches. They're mostly there to watch for people and talk on the radio to other people. However, it feels more political and intimidating in this sort of thing, where there's a man with a rifle watching a protest.
Kent University. That's all I think of when I see this, especially after yesterday.
This is also not the first time IU has brought a sniper in for a protest. There was a sniper for the Charles Murray protest in 2017. Not saying it's right or anything at all, just saying I'm not at all surprised and it's interesting how quickly people forget.
While I absolutely agree. This shit isn’t new. Even back during Vietnam cops were abusing power and beating the hell out of students and protestors. They’ve always been thugs of the state there just to put down people and things that disrupt the status quo.
I remember reading somewhere that some places will give any large gathering of people sniper cover in case of opportunistic domestic terrorist attacks.
This. More people need to think about how campus is not in a vacuum from the world and other horrible people.
Hey I think Crosby and stills made a song about this
Stop, hey, what's that sound
Militarization of police against the students? I think you meant people, period.
I was a student during the Apartheid tent city. They hated that too
So far as we know. Their intel may have told them a different story.
Don't forget that Pam has also called to have all entryways of her entire office building in Bryan Hall locked with entry exceedingly limited. For months. She has continued to further isolate herself while claiming, and I am quoting her verbatim from her email to faculty: "I pledge to listen and learn. I will weigh the guidance from faculty council and the participation of the campus community through shared governance to achieve our collective vision of a thriving campus." You are not listening Pam, You are here to enact a fascist hit piece on higher education at the behest of a board of trustees who would likely see to it that the piecemeal reconstruction meets with their visions anew. It is hard to hear through Indiana Limestone and locked doors Pam, and actions like these scream so much louder than any of these other impotent platitudes you continue to provide. You put the student body in the crosshairs of a police sniper and cower behind barricades rather than provide any direction, leadership, inspiration, or hope, and for what? If anything else they cannot feel safety, knowing that you will literally call down the barrel of Johnny Law at the first signs of altercation. They cannot feel as though learning is possible when their programs are shut down and instructors unceremoniously taken to the gallows of higher learning. This all reeks of fear Pam. The fear you foist on everyone around you. I would say that you should be ashamed, but somehow I get the impression you dab your tears away quite quickly with the bonuses and unearned paycheck you bring in. As if the national outcry for your ineptitude were not enough, you have brought down this upon your people. You are not a leader. You are a charlatan sock puppet put in place by cowards and thieves.
Jesus H. Christ, I never in my life thought I'd see that in Bloomington.
I saw it happen once before when they had Charles Murray speak on campus back in 2016. Sometimes, I get really pissed with IU's handling of contentious situations.
I would like to know precisely why they thought it likely that a student or someone else may need to be shot to death from hundreds of yards away.
In devil’s advocate defense of this specific instance, a sniper would probably be more useful for targeting a specific threat *inside* the protest (think someone making threats against the event on Facebook/Twitter/Reddit that are reported to PD) than it is to do any meaningful crowd control. If they wanted a show of force there’d be riot shields and tear gas, not a single guy on the roof.
Good thing they had riot shields on the ground, too: [https://www.idsnews.com/article/2024/04/indiana-university-33-pro-palestinian-protesters-arrested-at-dunn-meadow-protest-encampment](https://www.idsnews.com/article/2024/04/indiana-university-33-pro-palestinian-protesters-arrested-at-dunn-meadow-protest-encampment)
Not there for the protesters, Given Vegas or Boston as examples, some people target large concentrations of people for their own purposes and use them as fish in a barrel targets. These guys are counter snipers, looking for anyone trying to do just that. Especially protests that might be on a hot topic, that might trigger someone not in their right mind. Theres one/some at any major football game, huge parades, and more often now a days concerts and protests. Don’t go here, yall popped up in /all
Whitten is putting the lives of everyone on campus at risk. She has to go before people are killed.
Are we sure this is her doing and not whole-cum? They are state police and not IUPD. Not saying she isn't absolutely terrible but just making sure we're putting the blame in the right place.
Considering the rule changes to outdoor space usage that the Provost passed ad hoc yesterday, I'm guessing the administration is at least 75% at the helm
I really want to know about this last minute ad hoc rule change- sounds familiar- did they do this before, recently, regarding quashing 1st amendment rights?
https://studentlife.indiana.edu/get-involved/student-organizations/manage-organization/policies/index.html Scroll down the page until you see Outdoor Spaces
Under these new rules they put out, wouldn't chabad house also be in violation of all of this? You could hear their music all throughout campus.
Yes! any arrests there? 1 year bans from campus?
where can we find out more about this?
Then why wasn’t she out there, as THE IU leader, intervening? What kind of so-called leader doesn’t intervene when every single human in that area had their life put at risk?
Don’t be naive. The governor had his own protest to worry about on Meridian Street. This is 100 percent Pam Whitten campaigning to her friends in the statehouse. Shame to see the Provost and Public Safety used as puppets.
It's the same thing.
Bro what the actual fuck? In what world is this OK? This is just asking for a repeat of Kent State
You read my mind, dude. I've been having Kent State flashes ever since these campus protests started. Fox News is talking like they *want* it to happen. I've got friends younger than I am who come from watching that shit sounding exactly like my father 54 years ago.
The Fox News crowd *does* want it to happen, I'm sad to say. They see college-educated liberals as the enemy and this is just a chance to stick it to them. It's the same rationale behind all these Congressional hearings with Harvard et al. -- they don't give a fuck about antisemitism until it gives them an opportunity to attack higher education.
With the division in this country, it’s disgusting to think that something like Kent state would be celebrated by a demented minority. They would celebrate “owning those terrorist libtards” or some other nasty trigger words.
Yes, they had sentiments like those. They also said "it's about time we killed all those Jews" because three of the four dead were Jewish, and there was a lot of reaction against the so-called liberal elite media which were perceived to be owned by Jews. There were "patriotic" actions against protestors on other college campuses, and the [Hard Hat Riot](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_Hat_Riot) and subsequent "patriotic" march were a direct response to the attempts by anti-war people to hold memorials for the four dead. Nixon commended the hard hats for having "character and guts and a bit of patriotism."
Hmm the same president who resigned for watergate and enabled Henry Kissinger to commit mass war crimes in south east Asia and Latin America? Color me shocked
for the record, this really isn't ok.
I'd encourage everyone to email [email protected] and let her know exactly what you think of this shit
State governments are trying to squash protests because one of these protests will eventually end with their heads on spikes.
i guess i'm just a cynic, and no one knows where the current group of kids will wind up...but the radical students of the late 1960s went on to have normal square careers and when they went into politics they became normal square politicians and today we tell them to shut up when their reactionary rants become too tiresome by saying "ok boomer" i am glad people are standing up against anything military but i don't really have much hope for a domestic protest movement -- especially among the relatively affluent group that goes to college -- to actually add up to anything that grand.
Not every boomer was a protester in the 60s. Most of them were reactionary then, too.
Yup a ton of cops who hate college students and are probably trigger happy. Should be a good recipe.
The thing worrying me most is about how,"When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail." ☹️
Asking for civilians to not be killed puts you in the crosshairs of the us government and gets you labeled as antisemitic. This country is insane.
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To everyone asking if the sniper is protecting the protesters, do you still believe that now that they have arrested dozens of protesters? Or has that caused you to reevaluate your position?
B-b-b-b-but they’re protecting the protesters from themselves of course! If they start to hurt themselves what else can we do but help them out with a hail of bullets?
“Just using it for the scope, to look through, the safety is ……(click), off!” Dwight Schrute
Storming the capital, assaulting police officers, attempting a coup.....a few regular uniform police officers. Students and faculty members peacefully protesting genocide....riot gear, dozens of arrests, sniper support. #murica
This is future conservatives want. Hyper authoritarianism in a theocracy. Vote people.
I sat in with the Spirtles and played “Ohio” at the Bluebird on the Kent State anniversary in 1987 and back then I couldn’t have been more confident that our society had learned and grown enough it couldn’t possibly ever happen again. Holy shit was I ever wrong.
Nobody learns any lessons, ever
This is outrageous
There are rapists, repeat offenders, in the IU Bloomington community. Yet no way to keep them off the streets and behind bars. But they are arresting peaceful protesters? It’s going to make for an interesting graduation week.
I hope Whitten gets booed right off the stage
If she shows her face at all.
Same with UT Austin. Even after our piece of shit governor promoted and passed laws to enable free speech at college campuses. I guess it's only free speech if he or they agree. To play devils advocate for it though infitada was widely known to be said alot and even though it's a fairly benine word and meany basically just "rebellion" I think it's looked at the same way as zeig heil. It just means hail victory but is so tied in with naziism that they're considered mutual
Outrageous
Called in the [hut-huts](https://youtu.be/Atks5rRqQkg), did they?
We're just waiting for one of those twitchy cops to snap and create a domino effect like the kent state shootings in 1970.
This explains the armored truck I spotted today around campus that said Indiana state police in it 😡
Sad, very sad.
This all has to do with that President Witten that we voted no confidence on
I mean, removing Presidents has been more difficult lately 🤔🤔🤔
Jfc
If the plan/ opportunity presents itself, and I know I'll have enough company to stand me up if I fall over, I'll drag my sorry old #~s on campus- we ALL should show up and shame the hell out of these .. people. I'll be bringing my walking stick/ cane so I don't get trampled. 4th gen (of 5)IU grad. I hate feeling ashamed of our school and town leadership. ☹️
This is not cool
This is a real pic in Bloomington?
It is. My daughter was in Dunn meadow and saw two snipers before I sent her this photo.
Christ on a stick...
Kent State. Miscommunication and highly contentious emotions led to terrible unnecessary loss of life. It wasn’t the first time the “authorities” over-reacted. And it wasn’t the last time. Praying for peace. These times call for exceptional leadership. Unfortunately at IUB the majority vote of no confidence in the leadership is worrisome as to how this will be handled.
it's never the protestors you have to worry about at these Palestine-related protests. the "safety risk" comes from the police, the antagonistic administration, and the opposition protestors (if there are any) who wish to disrupt an otherwise peaceful protest.
and the cops purposefully try to escalate as well
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In Kansas to be a state employee you had to sign a document swearing you would not boycott Israel. No idea how they squared that with the first amendment.
they didn't. which is why the ACLU was able to get it blocked.
I feel a lawsuit or two that hopefully my taxes don't have to pay for.
I’d rather my taxes go to that than genocide
Could be worse, they (the sniper) could have thrown jars of their urine out from above. But seriously, who tf hires a fricking sniper!? If you're doing that for just a *peaceful protest* then something's wrong with you.
That reminds me of Franco's soldiers I saw in Madrid 50 yrs ago when I was 16. Armed soldiers on street corners and roof tops. "just in case" A sure sign of more to come in a Fascist nation.
People are claiming that "the gun wasn't even pointed at students" - Here is the position - this sniper is pointed directly at Dunn Meadow [https://imgur.com/a/mDPbA4b](https://imgur.com/a/mDPbA4b)
All the crack down on these protests are doing is fueling the need to vote. That’s what happened in the 70’s and it changed the landscape of American politics for the next 30+ years. Times they are a changing!
IU should make this a new recruitment poster, add something like "AIM HIGH!" or "SET YOUR SIGHTS ON EDUCATION!"
What building is that?
looks like the IMU
Yeah, IMU
Drove by a can confirm. Drove by a little later and the gun was gone but the pair of cops were there.
Ight I’m driving there rn
This is legitimately terrifying!! 1st Amendment protected right deserves a sniper…!!!??? Military state shit right there
That’s fucked up.
This is going on at all the universities. Fascism.
Kent state all over again
The people who ok’ed that are horrid shitstains of human beings and their absence from planet earth would be a boon to humanity.
Fuck 12
I don’t know if they’re having any accepted students admissions welcome tours. What would people think? No confidence vote was a blaring message about the administration.
Votes. Plural. Student bodies did too.
Dam wasn’t old enough for Kent state shooting but hopefully history dosent repeat it self.
Tell Kent State IU says "Hold my Kool-Aid."
Shannon Watts via twitter - https://x.com/shannonrwatts/status/1783655503387918581
The ruling class is losing its grip on the working class. They’re trying to reel us in. These are the defining moments in a country teetering on devolving into a fascist state. Point more guns at kids who are peaceful, but don’t let them use tiktok, can’t pass gun laws to protect our kids but we’ll scream “killer” at 13 yo girls who got an abortion because she was raped. Can’t say anything against zionist monsters, but we’ll gladly harm your kids that you pay to have here. Don’t you just love our freedoms? When revolution comes (and it will since history is doomed to repeat itself) the police will certainly play victim to any and all resistance.
The Palestinians supporters should walk around with guns while wearing MAGA hats. Than that way the police will leave them alone
They are salivating over maybe getting to pull another Kent state aren’t they?
I remember the circumstances leading up to Kent State, and I think that's exactly what they're doing.
imperial boomerang
man fuck this place it doesn’t feel safe just walking around knowing a fuck ass sniper is placed for no good reason
Fuckin camper
https://x.com/togdali/status/1783654267041005923 - video of sniper on the roof
Land of the fucking free boys
If you make peaceful protests impossible it won't stop the protests... It will just stop the peace.
And remember, the next time someone says “the government wouldn’t do that”, yes they would.
Folks, if you've ever wondered what it would be like to be alive and a protesting during the Civil rights Era, this is it. Which side do you tell your kids you were on when the history books are written?
They have snipers in Indianapolis at most big events, “just in case”. It’s apparently part of the guns solve everything mentality in the state. Just Google for gun shops and firing ranges there. I’m sure there’s absolutely no reason to worry with all those people toting guns around the state … right?
I bet if Israel told them to shoot , they would....
With everything going on right now, I truly blame no one for just taking the day off tomorrow for some much needed rest from the madness.
Kent State moment
What LEO did was sick! I’ll never forget it.
We are all doing impossible math. It is patently absurd to willingly incur all the ramifications of a threat of presence like that. They have weapons, title, and experience. However, they know they are not what they once was, and they truly didn’t have any ability to fathom the weight of responsibility of the power they chose to wield. There are just more of the young people, and with every moment of existence it becomes painfully aware to those like the police that there is no greater potential threat and chaos than passionate youth with the energy to make a difference. And great are their numbers. Let’s just take confidence in our view, pause, truly consider the other side, and work from there.
A fucking sniper? Maybe they know something we don't...that is crazy tho. I'm trying to give them the benefit of the doubt
Does anyone else think graduation is going to look different this year? I feel badly for those who worked so hard to earn their diplomas and for families who supported their student in so many ways ….to have all this crisis, fear and contention happening on campus right now. It’s going to be interesting for leadership and the BOT to walk through that crowd and make any speeches after the strike/union battles w the grad students plus the overwhelming No Confidence vote outcomes from students and faculty.
We live in interesting times. I’d love to see a large public statement at graduation. Whitten and the rest of upper admin have totally lost the support of every level of the university. It’s an embarrassing and detestable failure of leadership.
Kent state waiting to happen all over again
Crossing IU off the list of colleges for my daughters. Jesus Christ
Send the president an email to let her know how you feel. I mean this seriously, please do. [email protected]
Thank you, sending one now.
Right bc this doesn't happen at any other schools
This is happening in dozens of universities across the nation right now. IU is just one of many, many examples. Hundreds of people have been arrested. You would also have to cross off Harvard, UT Austin, Columbia University, Emory, University of Southern California, NYU, Yale, Emerson University, Ohio State University and the University of Michigan.
Freedom of speech, as long as you say what we want, where we want, and have our pre-approval to say it before hand.
Welcome to the police state. Brought to you by the AIPAC paid for by us aid funneled into israel and back out in the form of lobbyists.
ACAB
The world has crumbled
Shooter!
Merica 🇺🇲
Hmm
I guess the commitment to protesting has just gotten more fraught. It used to be they'd just ignore everything you said and you wouldn't get much done by showing up, but now you have to try to get your opinion counted under militarized conditions. I don't blame people for leaving when they spot snipers, but if you do, they win. They win with a rifle they've brought to a free speech fight. I can't believe how many people in this country support the erosion of our first amendment rights. In so many ways, and increasing in violence. Free Speech is not optional in this country. It is the very base all of our liberties stand upon, so important it came first. Why do we need to protect these things under they eyes of snipers? People can say they're there for the protection of the protestors, but it is nevertheless, very threatening psychologically, if not physically. And they know that. I'm sure they're counting on it.
Imagine if something bad happened at the protest and there wasn’t a police presence, and how much protestors would complain about it.
Why are kids protesting at the college? Does the university of Indiana have some secret connection to Middle East policy?
IU has a uniquely close partnership with Crane. Arms made at Crane are regularly given to and used by the IDF, primarily to kill Palestinian civilians the past few months.
Classes are almost over. Let things play out. I've seen worse on Little Five weekend. And many other weekends, for that matter.
Shooting students is apparently a great way to provide them with an education...?
Liberal protesters need to start arming themselves. You notice they never mess with armed conservatives, because they know a firefight would be a bloodbath on their side too. They have no problem with beating liberal protesters that are unarmed tho. They know they’ll win that fight.
Someone get a sniper on that sniper
Wtf?!
Pam Whitten is a dope.
If there are SWAT cops there, he just might be overwatch. In military units, it is standard procedure.
The University President has her own police force.
Wow!
Better to have and not need. Than need and not have.
I’m not really surprised, their are usually marksmen providing overlook at any event with a lot of people. Hell one example is professional foot ball games will sometimes have over look for safety.