Minuteman Founder Jim Gilchrist Storms Off DN! Debate With Columbia Student Organizer

The anti-immigration group the Minuteman Project announced yesterday that they are seeking to strip Columbia University of federal funding for what they say are violations of their civil rights. Last week, student demonstrators disrupted a speech by Minuteman founder Jim Gilchrist who was invited to the school by the College Republicans.

Over 20 students stormed the stage after Gilchrist came to the microphone and two students unfurled a banner reading “No human being is illegal.” On Friday, Columbia University President Lee Bollinger issued a statement that read in part: “The disruption on Wednesday night that resulted in the termination of an event organized by the Columbia College Republicans in Lerner Hall represents, in my judgment, one of the most serious breaches of academic faith that can occur in a university such as ours.”

Bollinger has vowed to launch an investigation into the student’s actions. But at a press conference on Monday, the students claim that they were assaulted. They point to a video taken by a reporter from Univision. They say it depicts a member of the Minutemen kicking a student in the head.

* Jim Gilchrist. Founder of the Minuteman Project and co-author of the book “Minutemen: The Battle to Secure America’s Borders.”

* Karina Garcia. Political Chair of the Chicano Caucus at Columbia University. Karina is a senior there.

We asked a representative from Columbia to join us as well but they declined our invitation.

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http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/10/11/1430231