illegal alien supporters attack Tancredo event at UNC Chapel Hill

Tonight, I traveled to UNC Chapel Hill to hear retired Congressman Tom Tancredo speak about why he opposes the Dream Act Amnesty and in-state tuition for illegals. His views are representative of the vast majority of Americans on these issues as illustrated by numerous polls.

I never got to hear Congressman Tancredo speak, neither did the thirty plus other people who gathered in room 103 in Bingham Hall.

I was running late to the event, which was to start at 6:30pm. I arrived around 6:45 and as I entered Bingham Hall, I immediately pulled out my video camera to film the conflict between pro-illegal alien protesters and police outside door of the meeting room.

The meeting room had become packed, as protesters filled the seats in the back of the room. Police refused to let anymore protesters enter for safety reasons and when they did that, the pro-illegal alien protesters made physical contact with the officers.

Officers deployed pepper spray and activated a hand held taser, although they did not use it on anyone.

I briefly filmed the altercation and then entered the room to find Congressman Tancredo sitting at the front of the room calmly. Those who had come to hear him speak had dismayed, worried, and agitated looks on their faces because the illegal alien supporters were intent upon trying to disrupt the meeting and prevent him from speaking by shouting obscenities, screaming "racist", and chanting.

Most of the protesters were younger and many were from the UNC campus Hispanic groups. Among their ranks were some students that had a style of dress and hair styles similar to many of the anarchist groups seen around campuses.

I entered and greeted Tom and then I went to find a seat but found the braying protesters to be highly disrespectful and anti-American in their attempts to suppress free speech in the room.

So I raised my voice and asked them to calm down. It took them by surprise for a second, but I explained that this was America and that free speech cannot be attacked using mob rule tactics. When I explained that UNC was my Alma matter and that their actions here would reflect poorly on the University, things calmed down for a few minutes.

Some Hispanic students came up to the front and said that this affects them and that they want to be heard too.

Congressman Tancredo was so polite and so tolerant. He told them that he would certainly let them speak as long as they showed him the same respect. He told the crowd that they could certainly shout him down and stop him from speaking if they chose, but that many had gathered to hear him and that he wanted to proceed.

While things were calming down in the meeting room, you could hear protesters out in the hallways being held at bay by police and they were banging on drums or something similar to try and create enough noise to disrupt the meeting.

There were some older adults in the ranks of the protesters near the back of the room who appeared to be the ring leaders. I hope that we can identify them from the videos to determine if they are UNC employees or merely old school leftist radicals from outside of the campus.

As Congressman Tancredo started speaking, two anarchist looking girls stood up and unfolded a long banner that read "No One Is Illegal" and many in the crowd sighed and said come on now. Tancredo said that signs were fine and he tried to continue.

Then after a few seconds the two girls winked at each other to give the signal and they moved directly in front of Tancredo putting the sign up physically on his face. Tom tried to pull the sign out of his way and while that altercation took place, the large glass window to the right of Tancredo was shattered by protesters outside of the building.

Luckily, there was a blind in place but the glass did rain down on two students who were there to hear Mr. Tancredo speak...