No justice, no peace, no sense...

[Gob]

A University of Buffalo student said she was 'hunted down' by a woke mob screaming 'no justice, no peace,' after she invited prominent black Republican Lt. Col. Allen West to speak on how he overcame racism.



Therese Purcell, president of the Young Americans for Freedom, a campus club that organized the event, said she and her fellow members only wanted to bring these open dialogues of racism to campus.

But protests erupted after the filled-to-capacity event, leading to an angry mob that chased Purcell, leaving her afraid of what would have happened if she wasn't able to hide from them.

She shared terrifying footage of the incident online, and says it left her fearing for her life, Fox & Friends First reported.

'I realized I was the target for these protesters, and about 200 of my fellow students started hunting me down on campus, started chasing me,' she said.

Lt. Col. Allen West: Decorated military veteran and former Florida congressman

Former Florida congressman and Texas gubernatorial candidate Allen West was previously a member of the U.S. House, representing Florida's 22nd Congressional District from 2011 until 2013.

West was the first black Republican elected from Florida since Reconstruction.

Most recently, West ran for Governor of Texas, but lost in the Republican primary on March 1, 2022.

West was born in a black-only hospital grew up in the same inner-city Atlanta, Georgia neighborhood as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

He was third of four consecutive generations in his family to serve in the United States Armed Forces.

After graduating from the University of Tennessee and earned his master's degree from Kansas State University.

West also earned a master of military arts and sciences degree from the U.S. Army Command and General Staff Officer College in political theory and military history and operations.

West says he wants to leave behind a legacy of 'being one who honored his oath to the constitution and safeguarded individual rights, freedoms, and liberty,' according to Ballotpedia.

Purcell said she heard the angry crown screaming, 'go get her, go get her, go capture her, the girl in the red dress.'

Purcell barely escaped the mob as she was pulled into the bathroom by a friend, where they called 911.

But Purcell added that even inside the bathroom, she heard the mob yelling that the need to 'find her.'

'I'm very afraid of what would have happened if I hadn't been able to avoid them,' she said.

'I don't think they were going to do anything remotely peaceful,' Purcell told Fox & Friends First on Monday. 'They were a very angry mob, and they were clearly saying that they were trying to chase me, that they wanted to capture me.'

Purcell spoke out Monday about the terrifying moment she says she was 'hunted down' which made her afraid for her life.

Tensions rose during the Q&A session just following a speech made by Lt. Col. Allen West at Thursday night's event called, America Is Not Racist—Why American Values are Exceptional.

Purcell said students inside the building began protesting and yelling - along with hundreds of others who had gathered outside the event.

'While they were screaming that we were trying to silence black voices, we were actually trying to bring this conversation to campus,' Purcell said. 'But instead of asking questions, they resorted to violence.'

Purcell said the threats escalated as protesters began screaming 'no peace,' and 'banging on the walls,' which prompted police to escort West out of the building.

West, 61, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, and former chairman of the Republican Party of Texas, was escorted out of the event surrounded by police - but was met with even more protesters.

Purcell, who was with West, said there were hundreds of protesters screaming at them and she quickly became separated when the mob got in between her and the police who were protecting West.

She said that's when she decided to turn around and walk peacefully back to her car. But the mob began to target her, urging one another to 'capture' her.

Purcell said the mob moved on to hunt down other members of the club and claims they physically assaulted one of the board members by kicking and punching him.

'I didn't think it was going to be as controversial… to say on an American campus that American values are a good thing,' Purcell said.

[Crackpot]

Yeah, no. Assholes all around here.

[BoSoxGal]

I don’t see assholes all around. I only see assholes who want to limit free speech to those sharing speech they agree with. They are major assholes.

[Bicycle Bill]

I don’t see assholes all around. I only see assholes who want to limit free speech to those sharing speech they agree with. They are major assholes.

Then there is the asshole who drops a subscription to a newspaper or refuses to watch a specific channel or individual because they disagree with something that person or publication said, did, or printed — not wanting to take a chance that they might be seen (by whom?) as supporting ANY of that particular person or publication's positions.

Or is it possible that they're afraid they might be exposed to a different viewpoint and perhaps have to change their mind on anything?

-"BB"-

[Sue U]

"Free speech" doesn't mean freedom from protests of those who disagree. Allen West spoke his piece and no one -- neither protestors nor the (public) university -- shut down the program. I highly doubt that Therese Purcell was in any actual danger, as 1) there seemed to be plenty of police around the event and 2) she seems to be making the extremely predictable right-wing media splash with her lynch-mob fantasy. Also, I didn't know YAF was still even a thing, what with the Proud Boys, America Firsters et al. sucking up all the fascist utes these days.

[ex-khobar Andy]

I don't agree with what is said to have happened to Ms Purcell which might - I said might because I wasn't there - have been exaggerated because we all want to be victims these days. But I take major issue with the title of the event: America Is Not Racist—Why American Values are Exceptional. By any measurable criterion, America is a racist country. Not all Americans by any stretch, not even most: but the effects of slavery and Jim Crow and red lining are still here and have not been sufficiently and effectively addressed. And how can a country which elected D Trump - who, remember, told his biographer that he didn't want Black men counting his money, just short guys in yarmulkes and he has never denied that - claim not to be racist?

And this exceptionality argument. America is NOT exceptional. Nor was the Roman Empire or the British Empire, other entities which have claimed that they don't have to obey the normal rules. That's what 'exceptional' means. So the title of the event is wrong - just plain wrong - for two out of two wrong.

I remember an event during my university days sponsored by the local Maoists who is those days called themselves Marxist-Leninists. Don't ask how that little feat of mental legerdemain worked. Basically the focus of the event was that Lysenkoism was great. (Lysenko was Stalin's science advisor who thought that Darwinism was nonsense and that acquired characteristics could be passed on to the next generation.). Rubbish of course and I and a few others basically argued the speaker off the stage using actual science. Most of the others were real live biologists so knew a lot more than I did. The point I am making is that intolerance of intolerance is not a vice. I'm not saying, of course, chase the organizer and threaten her with whatever. But I hope that if I were still a student at a respectable university I would be intolerant of such an event.

[Big RR]

You make a good point Andy, but then for me, and for a lot of people I would bet, the best way to get me to pay attention to something i to try and prevent me from hearing it. I'm all for engagement (like the debate against Lysenko's views, even for open criticism and shouting down things (like the old 1, 2 Fuck you...), but I don't think we should deny others an opportunity to speak (or invite speakers they would like to hear). Of course, we don't have to listen or be cordial/respectful.

[Gob]

"Free speech" doesn't mean freedom from protests of those who disagree. Allen West spoke his piece and no one -- neither protestors nor the (public) university -- shut down the program.

They tried though. But I'm sure you would have been as happy with the demos and lynch mob if it had been a prominent black democrat speaking on how whitey is racist.

It's only bad when THEY do it, obvs....

[Big RR]

They tried though. But I'm sure you would have been as happy with the demos and lynch mob if it had been a prominent black democrat speaking on how whitey is racist.

Sue? I seriously doubt it, at least for any lynch mob.

[Gob]

Me too, but a bit of piss taking never hurts..

[Big RR]

Well, in that case

[Sue U]

"Free speech" doesn't mean freedom from protests of those who disagree. Allen West spoke his piece and no one -- neither protestors nor the (public) university -- shut down the program.

They tried though.

No they didn't. They showed up to protest -- outside the auditorium -- and exercised their own rights to speech.

But I'm sure you would have been as happy with the demos and lynch mob if it had been a prominent black democrat speaking on how whitey is racist.

I wouldn't, but it would certainly prove the speaker's point then, wouldn't it? Care to dig yourself a little deeper?

[Gob]

Nope, it proves MY point... Selective racism is as bad as overt racism, is it not?

[MajGenl.Meade]

Nope, it proves MY point... Selective racism is as bad as overt racism, is it not?

And those two things are mutually exclusive how?

[Gob]

Who said they were?

But Sue's statement that

But I'm sure you would have been as happy with the demos and lynch mob if it had been a prominent black democrat speaking on how whitey is racist.

I wouldn't, but it would certainly prove the speaker's point then, wouldn't it? Care to dig yourself a little deeper?

Show that she believes only white people can be racist, as she assumes anyone protesting a "black democrat speaking on how whitey is racist" would be white.

[MajGenl.Meade]

Nope, it proves MY point... Selective racism is as bad as overt racism, is it not?

And those two things are mutually exclusive how?

Your comment assumes they are necessarily different. But they are not - overt does not exclude selective and selective does not exclude overt.

Perhaps you mean selective versus universal? Or do you mean hidden racism is as bad as open racism? Although if it's hidden, then how do you know it's there?

[Sue U]

Perhaps you mean selective versus universal? Or do you mean hidden racism is as bad as open racism? Although if it's hidden, then how do you know it's there?

This is precisely the issue Critical Race Theory was designed to illuminate.

[Big RR]

I guess it depends on how well it is hidden; most people are just not that good at hiding their true feelings, which is why racism is a problem. If I hate someone, or even a group of people, but do nothing about it and do not let it affect my behavior (if that is possible), then it would be truly hidden and not be a problem.

[Sue U]

But Sue's statement that

But I'm sure you would have been as happy with the demos and lynch mob if it had been a prominent black democrat speaking on how whitey is racist.

I wouldn't, but it would certainly prove the speaker's point then, wouldn't it? Care to dig yourself a little deeper?

Show that she believes only white people can be racist, as she assumes anyone protesting a "black democrat speaking on how whitey is racist" would be white.

Your hypothetical materially changes the fundamental nature of the issue from the one in Allen West's appearance at U Buffalo. West's argument is that the US, as an enterprise, is not fundamentally racist, and uses his own experience as support for the proposition. The antithesis would be that the US, as an enterprise, is fundamentally racist, a proposition that is supported by the historical record of slavery, segregation, discrimination, and institutional racism demonstrated by the disparate impact of social policies on communities of color. Your hypothetical is simply "whitey is racist." See the difference? And I certainly don't believe that only "white" people can be racists; every ethnic community has prejudices about "outsiders." But again, there is difference when only one such group has the tools of the state at its disposal to express those prejudices.

[Sue U]

I guess it depends on how well it is hidden; most people are just not that good at hiding their true feelings, which is why racism is a problem. If I hate someone, or even a group of people, but do nothing about it and do not let it affect my behavior (if that is possible), then it would be truly hidden and not be a problem.

The problem is that "hidden racism" tends to be expressed in facially neutral practices that nevertheless have a disparate impact on the disadvantaged group. Disparate impact analysis has been a standard feature of employment discrimination cases in the US for more than half a century.