College students to protest ex-Rep. Allen West’s speech

Students at Saint Louis University in Missouri plan to protest former Rep. Allen West’s (R-Fla.) speech there Thursday, according to a new report.

Protesters are upset about the retired Army lieutenant colonel calling the school’s Muslim Student Association a “stealth jihad radical Islamic campus organization.” 

{mosads}“Our administrator made a request for him to tailor his speech to our community, and in response he made a lot of hateful comments about our students,” student Claire Cunningham told The Riverfront Times.

Cunningham, who is a member of Leadership for Social Change, said West angered SLU students with a blog post last week.

In that post, West said the college was trying to censor him by preventing him from using the phrase “radical Islam.”

SLU students now plan on showing West his post was “unbelievably out of line” with their school’s values, Cunningham said.

“Our biggest concern is not necessarily that a conservative speaker is coming, because we believe in free speech,” she said.

The Riverfront Times said West plans to speak on behalf of SLU’s Young Republicans and Young America’s Foundation (YAF), a conservative organization.

YAF announced last week that an SLU administrator told West he could not use the phrase “radical Islam” on advertisements for his speech.

West responded on his blog, accusing SLU of censoring him in the name of political correctness.

“It appears there are those who define free speech as the speech they deem acceptable,” he said last week. “If you attempt to speak on issues to which the liberal progressive socialist left does not consent, you are censored.

“Or at a minimum, the little cupcakes ask for a ‘safe space’ where they don’t have to hear opposing views — and here we were under the impression that institutions of higher learning were supposed to be places to encourage the free exchange of ideas.”

West also called SLU’s Muslim Student Association (MSA) a “stealth jihad radical Islamic campus organization” for its role in the disagreement.

“I recommend to the president of St. Louis University, you do not want it known that a radical Islamic organization is dictating speakers on your campus,” he said.

The Riverfront Times said demonstrators now plan on peacefully selling cupcakes outside West’s speech to taunt the former lawmaker. Proceeds from the cupcakes will go to a charity benefitting Syrian refugees.

The MSA, meanwhile, is planning on staging a walkout protest of West’s address Thursday evening.

“The false comments that this individual made on September 22, 2016 are being used to incite fear in the SLU community,” the group said in an email obtained by YAF Thursday.

“In the current climate where Islamophobia is manifesting through violence against Muslims, this kind of rhetoric is not only offensive but dangerous, as evidenced through a number of burnings of mosques and attacks on individual Muslims following comments such as these.”