Tag Archives: University

One student killed, three wounded in University of Texas stabbings

FILE PHOTO: A student walks at the University of Texas campus in Austin, Texas, U.S., on June 23, 2016. REUTERS/Jon Herskovitz/File Photo

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) – A man enrolled at the University of Texas went on a stabbing spree with a large hunting knife at the school’s Austin campus on Monday, killing one student and wounding three others also believed to be students, police said.

The suspect, identified as Kendrex White, was apprehended about two minutes after campus police received reports of the attack on the school’s main grounds. White was being questioned by police and formal charges related to the attack were likely to come later.

“I don’t know what his motivation is,” University of Texas at Austin Police Chief David Carter told a news conference.

White has been booked by Austin police on a single charge that was not listed in online jail records.

All the victims were found in about a one-block area and were men aged 20 or 21, police said. Their names have not been released.

“There are no words to describe my sense of loss,” University President Greg Fenves told the news conference.

The person killed was found dead at the scene, Austin-Travis County EMS Captain Rick Rutledge said in a telephone interview.

The university canceled classes for the day.

“Our prayers go out to all those affected by today’s tragic events,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott said in a statement.

(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by James Dalgleish and Peter Cooney)

Berkeley largely quiet after Ann Coulter speech cancelation

A man looks on as opposing factions gather over the cancelation of conservative commentator Ann Coulter's speech at the University of California, Berkeley, in Berkeley, California, U.S., April 27, 2017. REUTERS/Stephen Lam

By Ann Saphir

BERKELEY, Calif. (Reuters) – Police at the University of California at Berkeley braced for civil unrest on Thursday in the aftermath of a canceled speech by conservative commentator Ann Coulter, but the campus remained tranquil through the day while hundreds of her supporters rallied nearby.

Some in the pro-Coulter crowd engaged in a brief shouting match with counter-demonstrators who confronted them on the edge of a Berkeley city park several blocks from campus late in the afternoon, but police managed to keep the two sides apart.

Coulter, one of America’s best-known and most provocative pundits on the political right, said on Wednesday that she no longer intended to defy university officials by speaking on campus without their permission.

She left open the possibility of paying a visit to supporters at the school, long a bastion of liberal student activism and the Free Speech Movement protests of the 1960s. But as of late Thursday, Coulter was nowhere to be seen.

Still, a crowd of at least 300 people, some carrying American flags, some wearing helmets or baseball caps emblazoned with President Donald Trump’s campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again,” staged a peaceful rally at Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park in downtown Berkeley.

Tensions mounted as the rally ended and a group of at least 100 anti-Trump demonstrators emerged to confront a roughly equal number of pro-Trump, pro-Coulter protesters in front of Berkeley High School, adjacent to the park.

A line of a few dozen riot police quickly moved into the middle of the street to form a human barrier between the opposing groups, as the two sides shouted at each other.

Earlier, city police officers reported two arrests – one for a weapons violation and another for drug possession.

Several blocks away on campus, several dozen UC Berkeley police and other local law enforcement officers stood by in Sproul Plaza, lined with orange barricades in anticipation of demonstrations that had yet to materialize by late afternoon.

Campus and local authorities said they were taking the potential for lawlessness seriously following several episodes of politically fueled disturbances.

In February, protesters opposed to an appearance by Milo Yiannopoulos, then a senior editor for the conservative Breitbart News website, set fires, broke windows and clashed with police on campus, prompting cancellation of his speech.

And in March and again in April, opposing groups from the far-right and far-left skirmished violently near campus.

UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks cited all three incidents in explaining why the school balked at Coulter’s original plans to speak on campus on Thursday.

University officials said organizers erred by inviting Coulter without notifying campus officials in advance, as is required of all student groups, and by failing to submit to a “security assessment” to determine a suitable venue for the event. UC Berkeley officials denied that Coulter was unwelcome because of her politics.

After initially barring a Coulter speech for Thursday, university officials proposed moving the event to next Tuesday. Coulter said she could not make it then and accused the school of trying to limit her audience by choosing a date that fell in a study week ahead of final exams.

Coulter then insisted she would go through with her speech on Thursday, despite university objections. But she changed her mind after student organizers withdrew their invitation, though they vowed to press ahead with a lawsuit filed on Tuesday accusing UC Berkeley of suppressing freedom of speech.

(Additional reporting by Noel Randewich in San Francisco, Mark Hosenball in Washington and Jonathan Allen in New York; Writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Bill Rigby)

Berkeley braces for unrest despite Ann Coulter cancelation

Ann Coulter speaks to the Conservative Political Action conference in Washington. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

BERKELEY, Calif. (Reuters) – Police at the University of California at Berkeley braced for potential clashes between militant left-wing and right-wing activists on Thursday, despite conservative commentator Ann Coulter dropping plans to address students at the campus.

Coulter, one of America’s best-known and most provocative pundits on the political right, said on Wednesday that she no longer intended to defy university officials by addressing UC Berkeley students on campus this week.

But Coulter left open the possibility of paying a visit to her supporters at the school, long a bastion of liberal student activism and a center of the Free Speech Movement protests of the 1960s.

UC Berkeley officials said classes would be held as scheduled.

But campus police Captain Alex Yao told a news conference late on Wednesday that his department would maintain “a highly visible presence” on Thursday, pointing to continued threats of violent protests.

“Many of the individuals and organizations which planned to protest Ann Coulter’s appearance or support it still intend to come to campus,” university spokesman Dan Mogul of told Reuters.

Indeed, social media feeds of militant left-wing and right-wing activists remained abuzz with vows to proceed with demonstrations and counter-demonstrations over the Coulter-Berkeley controversy.

In February, protesters opposed to an appearance by Milo Yiannopoulos, then a senior editor for the conservative Breitbart news website, set fires, broke windows and clashed with police on campus, prompting cancellation of his speech.

And in March and again in April, opposing groups from the far-right and far-left skirmished violently near campus.

All three incidents were cited on Wednesday in an open letter from UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks explaining the school’s position.

University officials said the Berkeley College Republicans erred by inviting Coulter without notifying campus officials in advance, as is required of all student groups, and by failing to submit to a “security assessment” to determine a suitable time and place for the event.

UC Berkeley officials denied that Coulter was unwelcome because of her politics.

After initially barring her from speaking on campus on Thursday, university officials proposed moving her appearance to next Tuesday. Coulter said she could not make it then and accused the school of trying to limit her audience by choosing a date that fell in a study week ahead of final exams.

Coulter then insisted publicly that she would go through with her speech on Thursday, over the university’s objections. But she said she changed her mind after student organizers withdrew their invitation, though they vowed to press ahead with a lawsuit filed on Tuesday accusing UC Berkeley of suppressing freedom of speech.

(Reporting by Lisa Fernandez in Berkeley; Additional reporting by Mark Hosenball in Washington and Jonathan Allen in New York; Writing and additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)

Eleven arrested during protest against conservative comedian at NYU

NYU sweatshirt

(Reuters) – Eleven people have been arrested outside New York University during a heated protest against a conservative comedian who gave a speech at the school, police said on Friday.

A group that organized the protest against Vice Media co-founder Gavin McInnes said he was known for using incendiary language, according to local media.

McInnes said on Twitter he had been sprayed with pepper spray, but “being called a Nazi burned way more.”

The protesters face charges of disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and criminal mischief after they were taken into custody during a demonstration against McInnes, who made an appearance at the university late on Thursday, a New York City Police Department spokesman said.

Protesters scuffled with police officers and McInnes supporters outside the university’s student center in New York City, where he was invited to speak by NYU College Republicans, local media reported.

The arrests came a day after protesters smashed windows and set fires at University of California at Berkeley during a demonstration against the appearance of Milo Yiannopoulos of Breitbart News, the right-wing website formerly headed by presidential adviser Steve Bannon.

NYU College Republicans on Facebook described McInnes as a Canadian writer, actor and comedian who has appeared on Fox News and The Blaze.

“Our intention was not to advocate for McInnes’s views, in fact many of us differ with him when it comes to certain ideas,” the group said in a statement posted on social media. “The purpose of this event was to promote free speech and not to promote certain ideas.”

Student Tamara Fine said to an NBC affiliate: “I’m dumbfounded that NYU would invite somebody who is a hate speaker.”

McInnes’ speech was cut short when protesters rushed into the room where he was speaking and began interrupting him, NYU spokesman John Beckman told News 4 New York, a NBC affiliate reported.

Early on Friday, President Donald Trump appeared to weigh in on recent protests, tweeting: “Professional anarchists, thugs and paid protesters are proving the point of the millions of people who voted to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee and Eric Walsh in Washington; Editing by Ralph Boulton and Bernadette Baum)

TruNews: Islamic Extremists Threaten Civilians and Students in Yemen

TRUNEWS – Islamist extremists have hit the streets in Aden threatening civilians and students.

The militants burst into a university telling students they have until Thursday to segregate men and women into different classrooms. The men also charged into stores demanding female employees to cover up and threatened families on a beach.

The city is at risk of falling to the terror groups, which also includes a dangerous sect of al-Qaeda, the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army, Daesh and ISIS. Houthi rebels were forced out in July, leaving a vacuum in leadership.

America Mourns the Deaths of 9 Victims and 7 Injured in Oregon University Shooting

Ten people are dead and seven are injured after a lone gunman opened fire at Umpqua Community College, located in Roseburg, Oregon. The death toll includes the gunman who was shot by police after exchanging gunfire with law enforcement.

Law enforcement identified the 26-year-old shooter Thursday night as Chris Harper Mercer. Police reported that the shooter had three weapons on his person during the shooting. In a news conference after the tragedy, Sheriff Hanlin would not speak the gunman’s name.

“Let me be very clear, I will not name the shooter,” he said. “I will not give him the credit he probably sought prior to this horrific and cowardly act.”

Sheriff Hanlin also asked reporters not to glorify or sensationalize him.

One of the injured students, Anastasia Boylan, told her father that the gunman had been singling out Christians. Before her spinal surgery, her dad relayed his daughter’s story to CNN. The gunman had entered her classroom, firing. After shooting the professor, the students hit the ground. She then recalled how he asked anyone who was a Christian to stand up, and then shot them. Boylan was shot in the back, but she survived by playing dead.

Investigators have reported that the gunman had a long history of resenting organized religion, specifically Christianity. His various social media accounts all had some sort of reference to hating religion.

The attack was among some of the worst mass school shootings over the last two decades including the Virginia Tech tragedy in 2007, the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Connecticut in 2012, and the Columbine High School shooting in 1999 located in Colorado.

According to data from ShootingTracker.com, mass shootings have taken place hundreds of times over the last several years. The Washington Post reports that only week has passed without a mass shooting incident during President Obama’s second term. A mass shooting is defined as an incident where four or more people are shot. The one week where there was no mass shooting was in April this year. Six days have passed without an incident several times.

On Thursday night, mourners gathered at a park in Roseburg, Oregon. Candles were held up by attendees and the hymn “Amazing Grace” was played. Photos of the vigil showed heartbroken community members huddled together and sharing stories of grief. Oregon Governor Kate Brown attended the vigil and offered her condolences.

“In our sorrow, we will remember and honor those lost today,” she said. “And they will forever be in our hearts.”

All of us at the Jim Bakker Show and Morningside ask that you join us in prayer for everyone involved in this heartbreaking incident. Our thoughts and prayers are with all of the victims’ families, those who are injured and recovering, the law enforcement and medical personnel, and for the entire community of Roseburg, Oregon. May God bless each and every one of you and comfort you during this difficult time.

Shooting at Umpqua Community College, 13 Dead and over 20 Wounded

A shooter opened fire at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon Thursday morning killing 13 people and wounding more than 20.

The unidentified suspect was killed in a gunfight with Douglas County Sheriff’s deputies.

At about 10:38 AM, the 911 center received a report of a shooting at Umpqua Community College. Police immediately responded.

Governor Kate Brown said the shooter was “a 20-year-old male.” She expressed her “profound dismay and unimaginable heartbreak. Our top priority now is the medical treatment of the victims and the security of the campus.”

Umpqua is a two-year school with about 3,300 full-time students and 16,000 part-time students. It started offering classes in 1961.
In audio of the emergency call, a dispatcher is heard saying that at the college’s Snyder Hall: “Somebody is outside one of the doors shooting through the door. A female is inside the computer lab. We do have one female that has been shot at this time.”

Our prayers are with the families of the victims in this horrible tragedy.

Researchers Accidentally Discover Ancient Volcano Range

A group of Australian researchers were looking for lobster larvae.

Instead, they found a huge underwater volcano range they estimate to be millions of years old.

The four are calderas, bowl-shaped craters that happen when the land around an erupting volcano collapses.  The largest is just over half a mile wide and rises about 2300 feet above the ocean floor.

Professor Iain Suthers from the University of New South Wales told the London Guardian newspaper he was stunned by the discovery.

“My jaw just dropped,” Suthers told Guardian Australia. “I immediately said, ‘What are they doing there and why didn’t we know about them before?’ It really backs up the statement that we know more about the surface of the moon than our sea floor.”

Suthers called the trip “enormously successful.”

“The voyage was enormously successful. Not only did we discover a cluster of volcanoes on Sydney’s doorstep, we were amazed to find that an eddy off Sydney was a hotspot for lobster larvae at a time of the year when we were not expecting them,” Professor Suthers said.

Suthers said that their research vessel can scan the ocean’s floor past their previous limit of 3,000 meters, meaning they can find more new structures off the Australian coast.

InterVarsity Allowed Back On California Campuses

A Christian student organization that was banned from official recognition on California state college campuses has been returned to full status.

InterVarsity Christian Fellowship had been banned from the CSU school system because of a decision by CSU that all student groups could not discriminate based on a list of items which included religion.  This meant the Christian organization could not require their leadership to be Christians.  When the group refused to sign an agreement to support the new regulations, they were removed from campus for the 2014-2015 school year.

InterVarsity announced that the school has now reversed course and will officially recognize InterVarsity as a student group.

“Following substantive and cordial ongoing conversations, CSU clarified the intent and reach of Executive Order 1068,” InterVarsity president Jim Lundgren said in the release. “We are confident we can choose leaders who are qualified to lead InterVarsity’s witnessing communities throughout the Cal State system.”

“InterVarsity’s Christian faith compels us to welcome all people,” Lundgren said. “We support CSU in its commitment to serve the diversity of students on its campuses. In fact, InterVarsity communities are some of the most diverse groups on Cal State’s campuses. At the same time, we maintain our commitment to provide campus communities that are clearly Christian, where all students can experience and learn more about Christian community, theology, and practice. We’re grateful for this development and are looking forward to continued ministry on CSU campuses.”

During their time of exile, the group could not recruit students at activity fairs and were banned from free use of school meeting rooms.

The group noted that the fight for Christians to have equal access to school facilities continues at places such as Grinnell College, Tufts University, SUNY Buffalo and Bowdoin College.  In addition, Vanderbilt University drove Christians groups off its campus with a similar policy as that of the CSU system.

Missouri Considering Bill To Protect Religious Student Groups

After Vanderbilt University and others punished Christian organizations and stripped them of their rights to be official student groups if they did not allow non-members of their faith to obtain leadership positions, Missouri legislators are considering action that would protect student groups.

House Bill 104 passed the Missouri House in March and is being considered in the Senate.  The “Student Freedom of Association Act” was introduced by Representative Elijah Haahr who represents a part of Springfield, MO.

“No public institution of higher learning shall [deny] a religious student association any benefit available to any other student association, or discriminate against a religious student association with respect to such benefit, based on that association’s requirement that its leaders or members adhere to the association’s sincerely held religious beliefs, comply with the association’s sincere religious observance requirements,” reads the bill in part.

“No public institution of higher learning shall substantially burden a student’s exercise of religion unless the institution can demonstrate that application of the burden to the student is in furtherance of a compelling interest of the public institution of higher learning and is the least restrictive means of furthering that compelling interest.”

The bill is in response to the Supreme Court’s 5-4 decision in 2010 that allowed a public university to stop funding religious groups if they violate any university “anti-discrimination” policy by requiring the religious group’s leadership to be members of their faith.

Opponents of religious freedom are mobilizing against the potential law.

“HB 104 would give religious student groups unprecedented exemptions regarding anti-discrimination policies,” stated Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

“Like the harmful so-called ‘religious freedom’ bills we’ve seen in the news recently, this bill cloaks discrimination under the guise of religious freedom. This bill has already passed the House, so this is the last chance for you to stop the bill in the Missouri legislature.”