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*Please circulate widely*
www.answercoalition.org
Minutemen suffer defeat at Columbia
University
Jim Gilchrist
terminates speech in face of angry opposition
 A
major demonstration tonight resulted in a serious setback for the
Minutemen organization. Jim Gilchrist, the founder of the
Minutemen, an
organization which dispatches armed vigilantes at the U.S.-Mexican
border, was invited by the Columbia University Republicans to speak at
the Roone Arledge auditorium on campus.
Many hundreds of protesters filled up the blocks
outside the
auditorium, in a demonstration initiated by the Chicano Caucus of
Columbia University and supported by the ANSWER Coalition. Inside the
hall, the overwhelming number of attendees were clearly opposed to the
racist message of the Minutemen. When Gilchrist began to speak, the
students inside exercised their Free Speech rights by loudly protesting
the presence of this fascist on their campus. More than 20
students -
including several ANSWER activists - occupied the stage where they were
violently attacked by thugs working with the Minutemen. In spite of the
violent attacks against them, they held their ground, and Gilchrist
terminated his speech.
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Minutemen
thugs tear at ANSWER banner
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"Progressive
students of all backgrounds -- immigrant and non-immigrant, Black,
Latino, Asian, Arab and white -- mobilized to meet this racist
provocation. Jim Gilchrist was hoping to sell his message of hate but
the people were not buying. Let tonight be a model for others around
the country. And let it be a lesson to the Minutemen: wherever they go,
they will be confronted. We have an obligation to the millions of
immigrants in this country who are being demonized and targeted by the
Minutemen, KKK and other racists," said Karina Garcia, Political Chair
of Chicano Caucus.
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