5 | Arts & Life
7 | Sports
All things considered: The ACL guide
Vol. 58, Issue 8
Rice fried by Roadrunners
Est. 1981
October 9 - October 16, 2018
The Paisano
Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio Community /PaisanoOnline
/ThePaisano
@PaisanoMedia
@ThePaisano
www.Paisano-Online.com
‘Confirm Kavanaugh’
Young Americans for Freedom protest in front of McKinney Humanities building Arnulfo Caballero Staff Writer UTSA’s chapter of Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) held a protest in front of the McKinney Humanities Building on Oct. 4 to express their views on Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s allegations against recently appointed Supreme Court Judge Brett Kavanaugh. The protest came a day after a similar event at the University of Texas at Austin (UT) involving the Young Conservatives for America (YCA). Protestors on the UTSA campus carried signs with messages such as “Confirm Kavanaugh Now,” “Kavanaugh is Innocent” and “Witch Hunt.” According to Peyton Dillberg, a junior political science major, the protest intended to show solidarity with the UT protest as well as support for Kavanaugh and due process. A crowd formed around the YAF protestors and other students who formed a counter protest. “[They] are just gonna support a rapist with no evidence whatsoever so [they] can make controversy,” said Eddie Cruz, a counter protester and a senior art major. Another counter protester, Mika O’dwier, an undeclared freshman, believes the protest
was disrespectful to victims of sexual assault. “By them choosing to protest against the Kavanaugh hearing, it’s really disrespectful to anybody, especially women on this campus who have been assaulted or raped,” O’dwier said. One student who chose to remain anonymous said, “I just want people to know that people who have been raped do support Trump, so the people who are out here saying that if you support Trump, you support rapists and all this, that’s not true.” As the protest continued, tempers flared. “Some lady just tried to pull the sign out of my hand and rip it up,” said Lucas Morin, a sophomore cyber security major and YAF affiliate. According to YAF members, counter protestors destroyed their YAF posters and property. According to Marcos Mullin, president of YAF, the counter protestors did at least $50 worth of damage to YAF property. Dillberg said that counter protestors ripped up nine of the posters he made. A counter protester also took a YAF member’s hat and threw it to the ground. UTSA police did not intervene. At one point, a member of YAF called for a police officer to intervene since a counter protestor
Arnulfo Caballero/The Paisano
A sign made by a protestor.
A protestor and a counter protestor stare down.
violently ripped up a sign. There was also an alleged assault by a member of YAF. Allegedly, the member slapped a
woman while she attempted to destroy his sign. An individual made flyers with a photo of the YAF member accusing him of
Caroline Counter/The Paisano
Continued on page 2 See “Students advocate for Kavanaugh”
‘No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA’ Kimiya Factory Assistant News Editor
Texas Rising protests outside MH.
Katrina Clements/The Paisano
Texas Rising, a political group in San Antonio, held a counter protest on Oct. 5 in response to the Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) protest the day before. Both protests address then current Supreme Court Justice Nominee Brett Kavanaugh and the recent sexual assault allegations made against him by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. YAF’s protest on Oct. 4 was held in support of Kavanaugh’s denial of the accusations and in support of his securing a seat on the Supreme Court, despite Ford’s allegations. The YAF protest caused students with op-
posing views to speak out during the protest, which resulted in a verbal arguments between opposing parties. Gerald Lewis, UTSA associate vice president for public safety and chief of police, stated “The UTSA Police Department is investigating several incidents that occurred during the student protest on Oct. 4. In the first instance, a student reported that she was slapped by another student. “Based on a review of video, social media posts and interviews with students, the preliminary investigation has determined there was inadvertent and unintentional contact that does not fit the elements of an assault. “In a separate matter, in which
a student’s hat was taken and his protest sign torn, the university police department has consulted with the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office and the hat incident has been classified as a Class C Misdemeanor of Assault by Contact. Destruction of the sign has been determined to be a Class C Misdemeanor of Criminal Mischief. The investigation is continuing.” Students who opposed YAF’s protest held a poster-making party the night before the Texas Rising protest on Oct. 5. That morning, Texas Rising Continued on page 2 See “Students protest aganist Kavanaugh”
U.S. Senate candidate visits UTSA Alejandro (AJ) Lopez Co-News Editor U.S. Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke chanted “UT” to a packed audience who replied “SA” after entering the Retama Auditorium on Thursday, Oct. 4. The Democratic congressman visited UTSA as part of his “Fight for our Future” college campus tour, which included 11 other Texas campuses. The Black Student Leadership Council, alongside volunteers from the Black Law Student Association, helped to organize and host the event. “I have never received a wel-
come so fierce, so warm and so proud as the one I have received today at UTSA,” said O’Rourke, after receiving a tremendous amount of applause from the audience. Before his speech, he gave the same response to a crowd outside the full Retama Auditorium. O’Rourke thanked everyone who organized the event and came out to the rally but specifically addressed the students. “[Thank you] to the students who are bettering themselves to do better for every single one of us. In many cases, taking on debt, working one or two or three jobs to make ends meet so you can achieve your aspira-
tions personally, but also so you can contribute to the greatness of your family, your community and of this country. What you are doing now makes us so proud,” O’Rourke said. O’Rourke continued, saying that he was told by political consultants not to waste money, time and resources on universities, community colleges and seniors in high school because they are historically unlikely to vote. He explained why there is a low voter turnout among young individuals. Continued on page 2 See “Beto continues college tour”
Beto O’Rourke speaks in the Retama.
Caroline Counter/The Paisano