Gavin Mcinnes's Argument Analysis

On February 1st, Gavin McInnes was invited to speak at NYU by the NYU College Republic group. McInnes is a comedian with conservative views who is infamous for his controversial publications in which he attacked transgender women. When he arrived to speak at the Kimmel Center, there was a group of students who started protesting and people started shoving each other. Eventually, a fight broke out, and McInnes was pepper sprayed as well. However, he still decided to go on with the event, but later decided to leave after the protesting became too loud. Several students were arrested after the incident, though the exact number is unknown. In response, Donald Trump has threatened to lessen funds to the university if they continue to obstruct free …show more content…
The protests are a case where many students protested against having their university bring in a controversial figure to preach his tendentious views, which would fall under the right to assembly. However, there is a limit to it, as there is with everything. The first amendment specifies a “peaceful assembly,” which is clearly not what happened. The shoving and the fact that McInnes was pepper sprayed show that the protests were not peaceful. I believe arresting the perpetrators was the correct course of action by the NYPD as numerous students were injured. They definitely should be allowed to voice their opinions; it just should be done in a way that does not harm others. Similarly, McInnes should have the right to say whatever he wants as long as it does not hurt anyone else, as is guaranteed by the first amendment. Nevertheless, I also believe that inviting someone to promote a particular type of political view in a facility of education is a dubious action at best. Although NYU is a private university, it should still have an impartial outlook on certain issues to avoid restricting their student’s views on important