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Counter-protesters vs. police line, which one actually chills the speech?
At the campus rally last Thursday in Madison, the counter-protesters shouting over the speaker shut things down faster than the cops ever did. The crowd got rowdier when the police moved in, but the shouting match just made everyone leave. Has anyone else seen the hecklers do more damage than any official crackdown?
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grant4786d ago
Yeah, "hecklers do more damage than any official crackdown" is spot on. I saw the same thing happen at a speaker event downtown last year. The police just stood there looking bored, but three guys with a megaphone managed to drown out the whole talk in about five minutes. People started leaving in droves, not because they were scared but because it was pointless to stay and listen to a shouting contest. The thing is, hecklers force you to choose a side emotionally, and when it gets heated like that, nobody feels safe to actually talk. Cops at least have rules they have to follow, but there's no rulebook for a guy screaming in your face who won't stop. It killed the whole event way faster than any official shutdown would have.
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