Iowa Gov. Reynolds: College protesters have free speech rights, but ‘We will be ready’ if protests create ‘destruction’

DES MOINES — The free speech rights of protesters on college campuses will be honored in Iowa, but “hate speech” and “destruction” will not be allowed, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said Wednesday.

Reynolds said if protests in Iowa cross those lines, “We will be ready. We’re not going to let it go.”

During a news conference Wednesday at the Iowa Capitol, Reynolds addressed a question about protests that are taking place on college campuses across the nation and how she and state law enforcement officials might react to similar protests in Iowa.

As a war between Israel and the terrorist organization Hamas continues, U.S. college students have been protesting in support of Palestine and in opposition to Israel’s military strategy. In some cases, protesters have occupied buildings and spaces on campuses, and restricted students’ ability to move through those spaces.

Reynolds said Wednesday that protesters have First Amendment rights, but also indicated the state will be prepared to respond if protesters break laws — including one passed after some civil rights protests in 2020 in the wake of the George Floyd murder turned destructive. She decried the actions of protesters at other colleges, including Columbia University in New York.

“Of course we want to protect the First Amendment rights to protest. But they’re going to do it peacefully,” Reynolds said Wednesday. “We’re not going to allow hate speech. We’re not going to allow destruction. We’re not going to allow what we see happening in some of the universities across this country.

“So we’re going to just get in front of it. We’re going to be respectful, and as long as (protesters) abide by the laws and do it peacefully, then great,” Reynolds said. “But if it crosses that line, we will be ready. We’re not going to let it go.”

Three-day University of Iowa protest planned

A few hundred pro-Palestine protesters demonstrated in University Heights this past weekend while U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson was in Iowa to fundraise for Iowa Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks. And a pro-Palestine protest is scheduled to take place at the Pentacrest on the University of Iowa campus from 12-7 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, according to a flyer for the event.

Hayley Bruce, the University of Iowa’s campus safety chief of staff, said in an emailed response to The Gazette that the university is aware of the protests taking place across the country and “has protocols in place.” Bruce said the primary goal of law enforcement during demonstrations is “to protect free speech while ensuring the safety of both demonstrators and the community.”

Bruce said campus safety personnel welcome an opportunity to work with protest organizers to “support a safe environment” and share information about campus demonstration guidelines.

“Community members are permitted to exercise their First Amendment rights in outdoor areas of campus if it complies with reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions, and as long as the conduct is lawful, and does not impede access to a facility or use of walkways, interfere with vehicle traffic, or disrupt the functioning of the institution,” Bruce wrote.

Bruce said encampments — which have cropped up as part of protests on some campuses — are not permitted under University of Iowa policies.

The flyer for the protest, distributed by Iowa City Students for Justice in Palestine, reads, “Stand in solidarity with student encampments and show the University of Iowa we won’t back down!”

A social media post promoting the protest notes that it is not an encampment. “Our intended goal is to reiterate our demands for divestment to the University,” the post reads.

More Iowa Republicans weigh in

Iowa Republican U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley said pro-Palestine protesters who have set up encampments and occupied buildings on college and university campuses around the country “are acting like children.”

Grassley, speaking to Iowa reporters Wednesday, also criticized university presidents for being “too slow” to enforce deadlines they set for demonstrators to leave their encampments or face consequences.

“Now, we all know that under our Constitution free speech is encouraged. And hateful speech, even though it may be constitutional, should be discouraged,” Grassley said. “But, you shouldn’t be able to attack people, threaten people, things of that nature.”

Asked how University of Iowa officials should respond to protests this weekend, Grassley said “any students that want to demonstrate peacefully ought to be allowed to, but it seems to me they shouldn’t be allowed to encamp.”

He also took issue with students demanding schools divest from investments that support weapons manufacturing and Israel amid the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war, in which more than 34,000 people have been killed in Gaza.

“And can you imagine that these students that are there, they think they’re in a position to tell a university how they can invest their funds?” Grassley told reporters. “After all, those funds are helping provide their education. … What right being a student do you have to tell the university how to invest? If you want to do that, you ought to be on the board of trustees.”

State Rep. Carter Nordman, a Republican from Panora, posted on social media that University of Iowa officials have assured him university policies and the law “will be fully enforced and done so without hesitation.”

“I am confident this will be the case,” Nordman posted on X, formerly called Twitter. “In Iowa, if you break the law or violate university policy, you should be expelled, banned, and/or prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. These unlawful pro-Hamas acts occurring around the country are unacceptable and should be met with immediate consequences.”

Today, I spoke with @uiowa officials regarding a potential “encampment” planned for this weekend. They have assured me that their policies and the law will be fully enforced and done so without hesitation. I am confident this will be the case.

In Iowa, if you break the law or… pic.twitter.com/K6JRPVWiKA

— Rep. Carter Nordman (@CarterNordman) May 1, 2024

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