BRAVE NEW SCHOOLS
Black Minuteman leader prepares to sue Columbia
Harassed, taunted with 'N-word' during event quashed by protesters

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/artic ... E_ID=52428

Posted: October 13, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com


Protesters storm stage at Columbia University (WND photo)
An African-American member of the Minuteman Project who was harassed and taunted with the "N-word" during a speech at Columbia University has filed police reports as the first step in a lawsuit against the New York City institution.

As WND reported, angry protesters led by a radical open-borders group hurled racial insults and turned their backs on Marvin Stewart during an Oct. 4 speech hosted by the campus's Young Republicans Club. Stewart was followed by Minuteman founder Jim Gilchrist, who spoke for about seven minutes before the protesters violently stormed the stage, forcing an abrupt end to the event.

WND has learned Stewart filed two reports this week that are being handled by the New York City Police Department, one for harassment and another for stolen property.

WND columnist Jerome Corsi, also a member of the Minuteman Project, had been scheduled to follow Gilchrist with a speech drawn from the book he co-authored with the group's founder, "Minutemen: The Battle to Secure America's Borders."

A video of the chaos at Roone Arledge Auditorium, shot by Columbia University Television, can be seen here.

In a statement obtained by WND, Stewart gives his account of the events leading up to the disorder:

As an invited guess at Columbia University by Mr. Chris Kulawik, President of the Columbia College Republicans, racial epithets were hurled at me including the N-word. The protesters tried to shout me down, but I was only emboldened to continue speaking.

Jim Gilchrist came out on the stage the first time and placed his arms around me and asked me to cut my speech short, of which I refused. Then Chris Kulawik came out and asked me to conclude my speech, because of the rowdiness of the protesters. I closed my speech with the following words, "God Bless America and America Bless God."

Stewart described how the violence began:

I went to the table where Jim, Dr. Jerome Corsi and I would be conducting the Q & A portion of the program, which was to the right of the podium. At that time, Chris briefly admonished the protesters and then introduced Jim. Jim immediately walked over toward me and placed his arm around [me and looked] out into the audience and made the following statement "Who is the racist here?" and then walked back to the podium where he dialogued no more than seven minutes when the protesters stormed the stage with their banner which was unfurled to the right of me where I was sitting. I briefly did a visual of the banner. I noticed the Spanish, English and Arabic or Farsi writing on the banner, which I assumed was anti-Semitic because of all the racial epithets that were hurled at me. …"

I was taken aback at what was occurring, and I went into the defense mode. I got up from the table were I was sitting, and as I was getting up, several students jumped on the stage were I was at and placed their hands on me in a threatening manner. By that time, I had withdrawn my pepper spray and pointed it at the face of one the protesters whose hand was upon me, and I spoke the following words to them, "What's your decision?" By that time, they removed their hands from me.

During this time period, I looked toward my left where Jim was because I heard a loud thud from the podium falling as a result of a large crowd of students jumping on the stage. By this time, Columbia's security approached me and asked me to leave the stage and return to the green room.

Columbia University Press quickly escorted the Minutemen from the state, taking them downstairs to the Green Room. After allowing a few minutes for the protest to subside, Columbia University Press safely escorted the Minutemen out a side door.