Lawsuit Over Binghamton University’s Alleged Suppression of Lecture by Economist Arthur Laffer Can Go Forward
From Judge Lawrence Kahn’s opinion yesterday in Young America’s Found. v. Stenger (S.D.N.Y.):
On the morning of the Laffer Event [at a lecture hall in Binghatom], the University’s Senior Director of Media and Public Relations forwarded to UPD [University Police Department], [Brian Rose, University VP for Student Affairs], and other members of the University an email from the College Progressives and an online post ostensibly written on behalf of the College Progressives, PLOT [Progressive Leaders of Tomorrow], and other groups, saying that they “will be taking away … the College Republicans’ space by disrupting their event.” On the afternoon of the Laffer Event, UPD saw a social media post by PLOT promoting the disruption of the Laffer Event.
[UPD Chief John] Pelletier decided to personally meet Dr. Laffer at the airport when he arrived on November 18, 2019, to inform him that his lecture may be protested. In his deposition for this action, Dr. Laffer stated that Pelletier told him the University “did not want [him] to come,” asked him to cancel the event, and “intimated” that he should return to his plane.
At the Laffer Event that evening, there were about nine UPD officers, including Pelletier, inside the lecture hall and fourteen officers in the surrounding hallways. YAF and the College Republicans chose for the Laffer Event to be open to the public and not ticketed because they wanted to attract as many people as possible. A large crowd entered the lecture hall. Dr. Laffer entered through a private entrance with his security team and UPD Investigator Joseph Gallagher. College Republicans president John Restuccia introduced Dr. Laffer and told the audience that if they had any disagreements, they should reserve their questions to the end of the lecture.
Seconds after Dr. Laffer began his lecture, a man in the audience stood up and started reading a speech off his phone about economics, racial oppression, President Trump, and the justice system. Someone from the audience gave the disrupter a megaphone. During the disruption, College Republicans walked in front of Dr. Laffer’s podium and held up “free speech” signs.
Over a minute into the disruption, UPD officers began to slowly approach the disrupter. As they were approaching, approximately ten to fifteen audience members surrounded the disrupter, forming a human barrier to prevent the officers from reaching him. Gallagher asked Dr. Laffer how he was doing, to which Dr. Laffer replied something to the effect of, “Let’s give it ten minutes.”
While UPD officers were pushing toward the crowd, Pelletier walked over to Gallagher and exchanged some words. UPD officers removed one protester from the lecture hall. As the disrupter with the megaphone was being removed, Gallagher touched Dr. Laffer’s back, said something to him, and then said something to Restuccia. Restuccia nodded, made a hand-wa
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