Far be it from me to challenge the conclusion of a former federal judge and an ex-assistant federal prosecutor, but it may be that pro-Arab students commit criminal offenses when they conduct “mock checkpoints” at any City University of New York campus. (“Campus Bias To Get Fresh Scrutiny After CUNY Report,” Sept. 16)
A six-month investigation conducted by Barbara Jones, the former judge, and Paul Shechtman, the former prosecutor, describes “mock checkpoints” at CUNY as “political speech,” as reported in your story.
Oh, really? Stopping another student and detaining him or her, even momentarily, is “political speech”? My understanding has always been that detaining a person against their will constitutes false detention and harassment. Maybe it could be construed as reckless endangerment and even kidnapping, the latter of which is a serious crime. These “mock checkpoints” are not “political speech” protected by the First Amendment but crimes that should be prosecuted under the law. Had the victims reported these incidents directly to the police, not bothering with CUNY authorities, that would have settled the matter then and there.
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