FIGHT FOR YOUR (FIRST AMENDMENT) RIGHT

Words by Ambar Ramirez & Carmen Macri and photos by Collin Frye

Interested in some light reading? Have you thought about picking up the Constitution’s Bill of Rights – specifically, the First Amendment? Here are some spark notes for you.

In the Constitution, the First Amendment states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

To oversimplify it, the First Amendment encompasses several fundamental freedoms. Under the Freedom of Religion, the Establishment Clause ensures that the government cannot establish an official religion or favor one religion over others, while the Free Exercise Clause guarantees that individuals are free to practice any religion or no religion at all without government interference. Freedom of Speech allows individuals to express themselves without government restrictions, including spoken words, written communication and other forms of expression. Freedom of the Press grants the media the right to gather and publish information and opinions without government censorship. Freedom to Assemble permits people to gather in groups for peaceful protests, demonstrations or meetings. Finally, Freedom to Petition the Government ensures that individuals can make complaints to or seek assistance from the government without fear of punishment.

Pretty straightforward right? Wrong.

In light of the recent on-campus peaceful protests happening across the country, it seems as though the First Amendment is getting lost in translation. Out of 24 protests regarding the war in Gaza, 24 have resulted in the arrest and suspension of students. The grounds on which the students are being arrested vary from university to university and charges range from criminal trespass and breaking curfew to disorderly conduct and other misdemeanors. Even the three-day UNF encampment resulted in the arrest of 16 people, eight of whom are students — all charged with time, place and manner restrictions for a verbal curfew that did not exist prior to the encampment.

The brief, three-day protests followed every protocol, rule and request set by UNF. When asked to dismantle their tents and umbrellas, they complied. When instructed to leave by 10 p.m. on the first two days, they complied. It was only on the evening of the third day that members of the Students for Democratic Society in Jacksonville (SDS) chose to remain on the University Green past the recently established “curfew.”

UNF student Khris Giljam was observing and live streaming the encampment. The live streams started on the first day of the camp being set up with students linked arm to arm as they chanted their cause. Surrounding the circle, police officers are seen closely observing the set-up.

“The protest itself was entirely peaceful. It was just students sort of occupying the Green, where they would go and hang out, like, all day. There were even students on the Green that were studying ‘cause it was finals week,” Giljam shared.

“There were some volunteers that brought food for everyone that was there. So it was very peaceful and was honestly like a fun atmosphere.”

It’s important to recognize that the Green has long been a focal point for various forms of public expression and assembly. On any given day, the Green is alive with a range of activities that showcase the community’s diverse voices. It’s common to see preachers fervently sharing the word of the Lord to students passing by or pro-life protesters asserting their opinions on abortion. Both groups have been welcomed to the Green and never asked to leave, although many times their assembly is disruptive and often crass.

So after two days of a successful peaceful encampment, marked by minimal intervention from police or university officials (although their presence was apparent), the sudden arrival of approximately 50 police officers in riot gear on day three left little room for doubt that the escalation was not merely due to a curfew but rather intricately tied to the protesters’ cause.

“There is no curfew on the Green. After everyone was arrested, there were people just walking around,” Giljam explained. “And the police have told students that the preachers cannot be removed because the green is public property, which is kind of funny because they removed the protesters from what they consider public property.”

UNF student and SDS member Lissie Morales participated in the encampment for all three days and was among the 16 individuals arrested. We were able to have a conversation with them about their experience after the peaceful protest turned into a breach of the First Amendment.

“They shouldn’t have arrested us in the first place and committed hypocrisy of protecting freedom of expression on campus when they repress us yet let campus preachers who are known to harass and threaten students on the Green daily walk free,” Morales shared.

Collin Frye, a student photographer at UNF, seized the opportunity to document the protests, aiming to highlight the injustices faced by the demonstrators.

“There’s usually a handful of university officers and occasionally some undercover cops, but there were at least 20-30 JSO officers on bikes. That number grew to over 50 by the end of the night,” Frye shared. “I heard that the officers try to have a 1-1 ratio just in case, and at the beginning, there must have been hundreds of family members there for a group prayer on the green, but that dwindled down to less than 20 protesters before the curfew went into effect.”

On the night of the arrests, there were preachers present. In Giljam’s words, the preachers were yelling at the students in the encampment while they were praying.

“One of the preachers actually went to the cops and said, ‘Thank you, officer,’” Giljam added.

“The discrepancies between their treatment toward the preacher who was heckling people praying, and how they treated the SDS protesters felt unfair,” Frye explained. “As a UNF student, I’ve never seen a curfew enforced on campus - I walk around all the time with friends at 2-3 in the morning. It felt like there was a dissonance between what they were doing, and how they portray the university on a regular basis.”

A source who was present also revealed to “Folio” that the protesters were fully aware of the risk of arrest by staying past curfew and almost anticipated it. With the university’s graduation scheduled for the following morning, the SDS understood that the third night would be the most crucial for their cause. They saw it as the perfect opportunity to make a significant statement to the school.

“After 10 pm, they gave them several warnings and then turned on the sprinklers, before finally removing them an hour later,” Frye said. “I think they believed weeding out people without having to arrest them would be less of a “PR problem.” I just want my photos to document their efforts, and how long the protesters were willing to hold out.”

According to the insider, the “curfew” was imposed verbally by the police, not by the university’s property owner. Any policies or regulations concerning the treatment of the green and campus would have required legal documentation and approval from the owner. The source speculates that the owners were not even consulted due to the rapid nature of events and emphasizes that the police are a separate organization entirely, not representative of the school in any capacity.

Regardless, while being arrested, the protesters maintained their peaceful composure, and at no point did they show any signs of aggression or violence toward the police.

“Officers were seen high-fiving each other and celebrating with counter-protestors as the 16 were arrested,” Morales shared. “They held the 16 in their cars and vans for over 4-5 hours before transporting them to the detention facility, only letting them out to breathe once someone passed out from the heat inside the vehicles.”

The university has yet to release an official statement regarding the student’s arrest but the Office of the President Moez Limayem did send out an email the following day about graduation, alluding to the incident that took place with the protesters.

The following excerpt is directly taken from the email sent out to UNF students and faculty.

“I’d like to remind all Ospreys and guests that UNF prohibits protests or demonstrations inside University buildings and prohibits disruption of scheduled events. Our top priority is ensuring the safety of our entire campus community and our visitors. We are also committed to protecting the First Amendment rights of every student, faculty and staff member. Please remember, that with those rights come the important responsibility to follow applicable laws and regulations and understand that there are consequences for those who choose to ignore them. Again, these rules are in place to protect every person on our campus, where there is no tolerance for hate or bigotry of any kind.”

The situation is further exacerbated by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who recently addressed the nationwide protests at the University of Florida in a press conference. He remarked, “We will not let the inmates run the asylum in the Sunshine State,” underscoring a firm stance against the demonstrations. Florida, as a state, rallies behind the Second Amendment, going as far as to pass a bill no longer requiring a license to conceal carry — but continues to add limitations to our freedom of speech and freedom to assemble.

“How are we going to send them to school to learn about politics and learn about the world around us and then when we get educated enough to understand what’s happening in the world, you arrest us?” an inside source asked.

The UNF faculty union, composed of at least 60% of the professors, signed a petition on behalf of their organization, advocating for the charges to be dropped. Although we lack an official statistic on student sentiment regarding the arrests and charges, our insider source indicates a general consensus that the protesters should have been permitted to remain on the green without a curfew.

“For the most part, there has been an abundance of support from students, faculty, alumni, and community members who are outraged at the gross injustice committed by the university,” Morales explained. “We will continue building pressure on University administration to not only drop our charges and lift the ban on campus, but also meet our original demands.”

Currently, the students and non-students who were arrested are still on trial. So far they have pled non-guilty and are awaiting a verdict.