Did that really just happen?
A week later, UVA's decision to clear grounds with riot police makes even less sense.
UVA’s decision to call in riot police to clear grounds last weekend. What more can we say? Plenty. Here are some thoughts now that a week has passed.
Well, while it is important to sort through the details, and we are lucky to have some very good local reporting doing just that, it is also important not to lose sight of the obvious: there's no real evidence (photos, video, eyewitness accounts) that protesters were being aggressive or posed a threat before riot police were called in to clear the encampment. None, really.
Yet UVA immediately took a “look-what-you-made-us-do” position after calling in riot police, saying protesters gave them no choice. What has emerged is an alarming disconnect between what student and faculty protesters and UVA officials say happened.
