The College Fix could not get an answer from the university on whether the pro-Palestinian protesters have paid or will pay for more than $250,000 in damages at Dunn Meadow a year ago.
Dunn Meadow is a designated open space on the campus that has a long tradition as the university’s official free speech and public assembly area.
Civil Liberties expert Jon Banzhaf of George Washington University, quoted in a report by The College Fix, thinks Indiana should sue the protesters to discourage such behavior in the future.
Indiana University “should definitely sue the students responsible, or at very least those who can be identified” for criminal behavior, including trespassing as well as other potential crimes such as “malicious mischief, trespass to property such as posting graffiti,” he said.
Not doing so, Banzhaf argued, would be unjust to students who didn’t cause the damages and might see tuition increase as a result.
Matt Lamb is associate editor of The College Fix.
“Assuming that's a reasonable amount of money to clean up the mess, that certainly seems fair. This is a diversion program, so I assume that their punishment would've been much worse, including jail time for what they did,” Lamb said.
He says if protesters are held responsible for the damages, it will send a message to other universities who experience damages from protests.
"I certainly hope that other universities push forward on sanctions because otherwise, if you let this behavior happen, it's only going to encourage similar vandalism, whether it's on the issue of Palestine or abortion or just general antipathy towards Donald Trump."
School photo.
