Controversial Speaker Sparks Debate Over Free Speech

 

 

What Occurred   

May 9, around noon in front of
the Student Union (SU), Anthony
Parish and his associate Ramon
preached their ‘gospel’ against Sharia
Law to students. They used their
right to free speech in Green River’s
free speech zone.
Parish wore a fake Immigration
and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
uniform. He is in no way associated
with law enforcement. His uniform
was incomplete ‘with different
pants,’ according to Ramon.
Around Parish and Ramon were
four signs, two stating that Parish
was not a real ICE officer. He also
wore a body camera on his chest
that he explained was for protection
so that he had proof if anyone
did anything illegal.
Ramon wore jeans and a black
shirt reading, “Protect this house I
will,” but his clothing did not seem
related to his speech. One of their
signs stated “Free yourself from
Sharia,” in bold letters. In smaller
text were arguments sourcing pages
they claimed were from the Qur’an.
“He doesn’t even know the difference
between the verses of the
Qur’an and Hadith. He’s bringing
up random stuff that he found
from google translate and online,”
said Ysmin Omer, a student who
was present and, like many others,
argued against Parish’s rhetoric.
According to public records,
Parish and other associates came
to campus Oct. 26, 2017. They were
in the commons preaching against
homosexuals. That day, there were
three direct complaints regarding
hateful speech and aggressive
approach in that area.
Jordyn Mitchem, a student that
interacted with Parish in Oct., said,
“[It’s sick that] people can sit here
and tell us that we will burn in hell
and continue to show their faces
where they aren’t wanted.”
Parish’s campus presence got a
bigger response this time. A crowd
of students and faculty formed
around the pair. Security had the
crowd clear the walkway repeatedly.
Auburn police were called on
Parish for his impersonation of an
officer. Since Parish’s uniform was
not complete and was being used
for free speech, it was not illegal
and Parish was not arrested or
taken off campus.
Parish and Ramon know their
rights and are careful not to cross
lines. They legally spoke on a
state-funded campus and Green
River does not have the grounds to
remove someone expressing free
speech unless they are expressing
direct threats or acts of violence,
disrupting classes, speaking inside
the facilities, or are a student.
Those practicing free speech on
campus may inform the school
ahead of time, which is preferred,
but not legally required.
A student pushed down one of
Parish’s signs, which falsely read,
“Islamophobia is a term invented
to silence the critics of Islam.”
According to Merriam-Webster
Dictionary, islamophobia is the
“irrational fear of, aversion to, or
discrimination against Islam or
people who practice Islam.”
The signs are private property
and students can be charged if they
grab or attempt to destroy them.
Knowing his rights, Ramon called
the police on one student without
hesitation. The student was not
charged, but the police did speak
to her and campus security. Others
in the crowd attempted to grab the
signs but were stopped by others.
Carlos Adams, an American Minority
and Ethnic Studies teacher
who brought his class to observe
and interact with Parish and Ramon
as a learning experience, said,
“You have to use these things as a
learning moment. You have to be
able to know what the opposition
is saying in order to form your own”

What Occured

May 9, at approximately noon in front of the Student Union (SU), Anthony Parish and his associate, who goes by Ramon, preached their ‘gospel’ against Sharia Law to students. They used their right to free speech in Green River’s free speech zone.

Parish wore a fake Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) uniform. Parish is in no way associated with any sort of law enforcement, as his uniform was incomplete ‘with different pants,’ according to Ramon. Around Parish and Ramon were four signs, two of which stated that Parish was not a real ICE officer. Parish also wore a body camera located on his chest that he explained was for his protection, so that he may have proof if anyone did anything illegal. 

Ramon only wore jeans and a black shirt which said, “Protect this house I will,” but his clothing did not seem to relate to his speech as Parish’s did. One of their signs stated “Free yourself from Sharia,” in bold letters. In smaller text were their arguments, sourcing pages they claimed were from the Qur’an.

“He doesn’t even know the difference between the verses of the Qur’an and Hadith. He’s bringing up random stuff that he found from google translate and online,” said Ysmin Omer, a student who was present and, like many others, argued against the evidence Parish was presenting. “Those people who have memorized it are telling him right now that not one of those sentences that those people are saying right now are even part of the Qur’an.” 

According to public records, Parish and other associates came to campus Oct. 26, 2017. They were present in the commons preaching against homosexuals. That day, there were three direct complaints regarding hateful speech and aggressive approach in that area.

“Why [does] he [feel] the need to spread such hateful views in one of the most liberal states and areas in the U.S.?” Jordyn Mitchem, a student that interacted with Parish back in Oct. “[It’s sick that] people can sit here and tell us that we will burn in hell and continue to show their faces where they aren’t wanted.”

Parish has had a presence on campus before, but this time, he had a bigger response. A crowd of students and faculty formed around the pair. The crowd had to be moved multiple times to clear the walkway of the SU. Security was present immediately, monitoring the situation. The police were called on Parish for his impersonation of an officer, which is illegal. Since Parish’s uniform was not complete and the clothing was being used in the act of free speech, Parish was not arrested or taken off campus.  

Parish and his associate are educated on their rights and are careful not to cross any lines. They spoke on a state-funded campus, which is legal. The school does not have the grounds to remove someone expressing free speech on campus unless they are expressing direct threats or acts of violence, are disrupting classes, are speaking inside the facilities, or are a student. Those who practice free speech on campus may choose to inform the school ahead of time, and it is preferred, but it is not a legal requirement.

One student pushed down one of the Parish’s signs, which falsely read, “Islamophobia is a term invented to silence the critics of Islam.” According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, islamophobia is the “irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against Islam or people who practice Islam.”

The signs were the private property of the speakers, and students can be charged if they grab or attempt to destroy one of the signs. Knowing his rights, Parish’s associate called the police on one student without hesitation. Although the student was not charged, the police did speak to her, as well as campus security. Others in the crowd attempted to grab at the signs but were stopped by other students.

Carlos Adams, an American Minority and Ethnic Studies teacher, brought his class down to observe and interact with Parish as a learning experience. “I brought my students down here to take a look at what the other side of the discord is saying, to get them to see the language, the ideas, and the way they’re framing their questions, to get them to understand what some would argue is racist Islamophobic attitudes and ideas,” Adams said. “You have to use these things as a learning moment. You have to be able to know what the opposition is saying in order to form your own belief.”

About Anthony Parish

Anthony Parish used to live in Texas and attends the South Park Missionary Baptist Church in Seattle, which has a public rating of 1.8 stars. He preaches in front of many Mosques as well as other colleges and has been seen at Kent Station. “I preach the gospel of Jesus Christ which is the death, burial, and resurrection,” Parish said. “[I talk] about what sin is and how people can be saved from their sins.”

Parish was joined by one of his associates, Ramon. Both were speaking through the campaign coalition—Anti-Jihad Coalition—which according to its Facebook page, asks people to raise awareness of their concerns for “Jihadi militant Islamists and help in the fight against Islamization.” The group supports activities of protest throughout the year and has 590 likes. The page was taken down July 11, 2017, as it was violating Facebook’s public policy. The ban was for 24 hours, but the page was shut down for weeks.

Parish’s signs advertised their website, Counter Jihad Coalition, “A coalition countering Jihad on the streets.” The website and the Facebook page are run by the same organization. Parish and his associate do not run this organization but share its beliefs.

The two are also associated with “Acts of Truth”, which has a YouTube channel that seems to be run by Parish’s associate, Ramon. The group was best described in one of their own videos by Terry Kyllo, A Lutheran Pastor, who defined the organization as “a well-funded organization that’s a hate group that is here to spread misinformation about Muslims.” Acts of Truth seems to follow the same beliefs of the Anti-Jihad Coalition.

 

Opinions of Students

Steven Winters

I made sure I did my part and ask for a pamphlet because I just wanted to know his opinion and why he sees the way that he sees things, but I mean, to me at the end of the day, he’s pointing these things out on his signs and what not, but every culture and every religion is going to have dirt that you can point out on them.

No matter what religion or what culture you have nobody’s perfect, alright, everybody’s going to have that imperfection, but if you make light of that imperfection and you try to broaden it and generalize it on a whole culture, on a whole religion, I think that’s what’s wrong.

But at the end of the day he’s exercising his first amendment right, he can do whatever he wants. At the end of the day I think people are so tribal that you know, nobodies going to change anyone’s opinion or minds her.

At the end of the day I think people should say that you’re not going to chance my opinion I’m not going to change yours. Lets just agree to disagree and just disperse because this isn’t even worth it to me, I didn’t even know this was on public property for them to be able to do this here but yeah, I don’t think all this commotion is necessary.

I’m neutral on the matter because I want to be able to respect everyone’s opinions, I have my own but I’m not going to like push that on someone. 

Ammar Mubeen

What he’s written in his pamphlet is basically a generalization based on the things that are being followed in other Muslim countries like Pakistan Saudi Arabia etc.  

Those are the interpretations of the Qur’an on the basis of what their government thinks the Qur’an is saying, and so if a government is full of bigots, narrow-minded and oppressive people and they interpret a holy text to be bigoted, narrow-minded and oppressive. Then that entire country will follow that bigotry, narrow minded perspective on that religious scripture.

It can be any religion. The Bible cites instances of violence, the Qur’an cites instances of violence, the Veda, which is Hindu’s holy scripture, sites instances of violence, and all of them site against it.

None of them say that anyone should be oppressed, the Qur’an itself states that you may persuade somebody to join, you may persuade someone to become a Muslim but if they do not comply with your request or if you are not able to persuade them then you leave them alone. Because their faith is their own and that is what every religion does it’s like these are a set of values that you should follow as human beings and that is that, and these are the reproductions that you will face if you don’t follow them, both in this world and thereafter.

Also, when people bring up Islam and Sharia Law, my whole thing against Sharia Law is that whatever is written in Sharia Law is oppressive I agree, but I have never meet a Muslim in my life who prefers Sharia Law over their own constitution,

The Islamic scriptures never say anything against women not being educated, being independent educated or working for themselves, what it does say, [is] that if a woman is a parent then a parent first because they have a direct connection to the child, rather than the father. The father in a family does not have that direct connection with the child as the mother so the mother should be with the child nurturing them, protecting them, teaching them, and raising them while the father provides for the family, and if a mother Is able to do that as well as their own job then more power to them.

Akarim Avi

My opinion of what he’s saying is basically, he’s just here for attention I feel and to cause chaos a bit just to stir up everyone at Green River. Everything that he says he’s taking out of context. He’s basically saying it out of not good intentions. He’s here to mess with the Muslim community, he’s here to cause racial tensions in a way and I feel like the reason that he’s talking about this, because you can see that there’s a lot of controversy about the subject going on and so he’s causing tension between people and he shouldn’t even be here. That’s how I feel.

Sarah Mohammad

I’m actually really mad, like I get freedom of speech and whatever, he can come here and tell us all of this, but this is like his opinion and these facts that he’s telling. Not even facts, the shit that he’s telling us is not even true

Honestly Green River shouldn’t even be allowing this. 

Reggie Mckenzie

Mixed feelings, I feel that as an American natural born citizen, you have the right to say what he wants and its freedom of speech, but I think that it’s a little disappointing that he takes freedom of speech to a different level and he decide to be offensive.

And there’s nothing wrong to bringing awareness of any type of topic but nothing where you wear this shirt and have these harsh words against people that almost entails that you are almost being a little hostile, you know?

I personally don’t mind him being here, I don’t take offence super much I just find it disappointing.

Janelle Katzer (student who pushed over sign)

“I feel like these people make a lot of students here feel unsafe and unwelcomed and that the fact that these people are allowed to do their hate speech under the impression that it’s not hurting anybody is just absolute garbage. Our security should be stepping up and making sure students feel safe on campus and away from this hate speech. “

Sydney Cambell

“That man was spreading hate about a religion that he had no right to talk about because he does not practice Muslim or Islam. He’s a Christian he told us. He’s not qualified to say that he knows more about the Qur’an than someone who actually practices the religion.”  

Rights as a Student in the Context of Free Speech:

The First Amendment of our Constitution 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.”

Free speech is critical in a progressive democracy, as it allows for the free exchange of ideas, protects our religious beliefs and allows citizens to fight against tyranny. There are some restrictions on freedom of speech, and even more for students.

According to www.uscourts.gov freedom of speech allows the right to,

• Not speak.
• To use offensive words and phrases to convey political messages.
• To contribute money to political campaigns.
• To advertise commercial products and professional services (with some restrictions).
• To engage in symbolic speech.

Freedom of speech does not allow the right to,

• To incite actions that would harm others.
• To make or distribute obscene materials.
• To permit students to print articles in a school newspaper over the objections of the school administration. 
• Of students to make an obscene speech at a school-sponsored event.
• Of students to advocate illegal drug use at a school-sponsored event.

In the context of personal property, which includes signs and objects for symbolic speech. Destruction, vandalism, and defacement, of personal property is illegal. Larceny, which refers to the taking of someone else’s property without the use of force, is also illegal. If someone were to take the personal property of a public speaker, they may be charged with larceny. Students should never attempt to touch, move or destroy any sort of symbolic speech as they may be charged with a crime.   

Some Practical Suggestions for Controversial or Offensive speech

• Respond with more speech.
• Focus on colleges values of tolerance and civility.
• Do not assume the college agrees with the speaker’s viewpoint.
• Recognize free speech issues and role of the speaker.
• Understand time, place and matter restrictions.
• Discuss difficult issues.
• Promote campus inclusiveness through campus events and celebrations

 

Pull Quote 

President Suzanne Johnson

Is there anything that you would like the Green River students to know on the topic of freedom of speech?

“I think that it’s important for us to come to recognize that in our lives we will meet and be confronted by different viewpoints values and opinions and that there will be many opportunities for meeting like-minded people and those are always validating and empowering experiences. And we will have equally a set of opportunities to meet individuals whose opinions might make us uncomfortable, might make us angry, or just believe that your wrong and their right and to recognize in the context of our educational process the diversity of our world and that there will be differences always. Stay firm in your beliefs, stay firm to your values and live your life accordingly.”