U.S. colleges being invaded by anti-Israel protesters should learn a lesson from the University of Florida, Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fla., told Newsmax on Wednesday morning.
"The University of Florida is not a daycare, and we do not treat protesters like children — they knew the rules, they broke the rules, and they'll face the consequences," Florida President Ben Sasse, the former Republican senator, said in a statement to First Coast News after nine protesters were arrested at the Gainesville, Florida, campus Tuesday,
Pro-Palestinian demonstrations are occurring at colleges around the country.
"They [Florida officials] once again are leading the nation and showing how you can protect free speech while also taking a firm stance of nontolerance against violence and any effort to block buildings, roads, camps, all that stuff that does not qualify as free speech," Cammack told co-hosts Rob Finnerty and Sharla McBride on "Wake Up America."
"And so shout out to [President] Ben Sasse and the Gainesville community on that front, but what we have seen around the country is absolutely unacceptable."
Cammack said leaders at other schools should take a page out of "UF's playbook."
"Ironically, [Gainesville] is the home of Tom Petty and said, 'Listen, we're not going to back down from our stance on this; we will stand firm for the First Amendment, but we are also going to protect our students and faculty.' That's what needs to happen," Cammack said.
The congresswoman was asked whether she would support cutting federal funding for universities that allow the pro-Palestinian protests to continue.
"I definitely will take a look at supporting any effort to hold these universities that allow this to continue," she said. "We cannot allow for these universities to be rewarded with millions and, in some cases, billions of dollars in R&D [research and development] money from the federal government when they have no interest in actually flying the American flag or protecting their students on speech.
"These have become bastions for this type of activity of antisemitism, of harassment, hazing. We've seen video from around the country from UCLA to Columbia and everywhere in between where students on campus are being denied the opportunity to go to class unless they actually engage with these protesters. That's just simply un-American. That's not free speech."
It "makes me sick" seeing protesters replace the U.S. flag with the Palestinian flag, Cammack added.
"I know it makes people around this country sick," she said. "We have to take an unequivocal stance that we will not tolerate antisemitism, not on college campuses, not in our communities.
"We do not support these pro-Hamas, pro-terrorist sympathizers and we need to start exercising the power of the purse to ensure that these universities that allow these shenanigans to continue will bear the brunt of the consequences."
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Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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