Representatives from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression came to campus Tuesday and tabled with the Illini Republicans outside the Illini Union. FIRE expressed support for Illini Republicans and came to put pressure on the University to stop reviewing Title VI reports in the wake of the RSO’s controversial social media post.
“I think this is mostly an educational goal,” said Jessie Appleby, FIRE program counsel. “We just hope to slowly but surely make our way across the country educating more and more people about their First Amendment rights.”
Appleby also gave context to FIRE’s reasoning behind visiting campus.
“With a lot of cases we will respond by appealing directly to the school, often advocating publicly as well to put public pressure on the school,” Appleby said.
The nonprofit 501(c)(3) foundation has taken up the Illini Republicans’ case regarding the group’s use of free expression after they posted a graphic to Instagram of a federal agent pointing a gun at a man resembling Alex Pretti with the caption “ONLY TRAITORS HELP INVADERS.”
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The graphic, which was removed from a larger post after being uploaded, came after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers killed Renee Good and Pretti in Minneapolis. The University issued a statement saying the Title VI Office was “reviewing reports received about the incident.”
Patrick Wade, the University’s director of executive communications and issues management, told The Daily Illini in a statement Feb. 2 that the University condemns “rhetoric or imagery that appears to glorify violence or demean individuals or groups based on identity or beliefs.”
Appleby, who penned a letter to Chancellor Charles Lee Isbell Jr. Feb 4. urging the University to cease any investigation of the RSO’s post, came to campus from Philadelphia to advocate for FIRE’s case alongside the Illini Republicans.
In response to Appleby’s letter, Wade told The DI that the University is required by federal law to review and process the Title VI reports it receives. Wade previously said in the University’s statement that it cannot discipline the RSO for the “viewpoint or content of protected speech.”
When asked whether FIRE plans to take the University to court, Appleby said she’s first waiting on a University response by FIRE’s Feb. 18 deadline.
“I can’t say we would ever rule anything out,” Appleby said. “But, at this point, we are more focused on the advocacy angle and just trying to bring attention to the case, put public pressure on the University.”
William Harris, strategic campaigns specialist for FIRE, also attended. He said that, although the University did not explicitly say it was “investigating” the Illini Republicans, its actions implied otherwise.
“What we saw here was a clear instance where core political expression protected by the First Amendment was being investigated by a public university,” Harris said. “It is an investigation if materials are being submitted to an office and that office is analyzing, assessing and investigating.”
Appleby said FIRE was “troubled” by the announcement of an Illini Republicans Title VI Office review, but added it was good that Wade acknowledged the University could not discipline the RSO for protected speech.
“We in general urge schools not to condemn or take a position on speech in political issues,” Appleby said. “Rather, we’d prefer if schools just let the students and faculty say their own opinions and argue with one another without the school piping up to say: ‘This speech is bad and this speech is good.’”
The Illini Republicans’ post would not be protected under the First Amendment if it was deemed a “true threat.” To that, Appleby says the Instagram graphic was not a threat and did not meet the high standards needed to be considered a true threat.
“What’s at stake here is dire,” Harris said. “No matter your opinion of this post or your stance on immigration politics, every American should be disturbed if you can’t share your opinion on it on a public university campus.”
