CORPUS CHRISTI (KIII NEWS) — Freedom of speech; it's a fundamental right in America, as is the freedom of religion, but a protestor on the Texas A &M Corpus Christi campus has students questioning the limits of that priviledge.
This past week, a man was in a public area at TAMU-CC, insulting passing students and citing religious references in derogetory terms. A social media video shows the man holding a Bible while announcing that no one wants to see stretch marks on a women's body.
Students said a line has been crossed.
In a separate video, an Islander student is seen praying on her knees, while the unidentified man condemns students. The video has gone viral.
"He was still insulting her while she was praying," Abby Cabrera said.
The freshman witnessed the powerful moment. She said others knelt beside her to show their support; the student was clearly upset.
"Everyone took it very offensively; they were upset about it," Cabrera added.
Joshua Sennette claimed he was targetted by the protestor. Sennette reported the man made distasteful comments on his appearance, yet again, citing the Bible as his back-up.
"He started calling me out and racially profiling me, he was calling me like a gangster and a thug and just saying all these things because of the way I dressed," Sennette explained.
Eventually, Sennette was fed up. In a separate video, a campus police officer is shown stepping in to protect the students and the man.
"It was time for someone to put him in his place, I was like you don't even know me."
Texas A and M Corpus Christi's Vice President of Student Engagement and Success, Don Albrecht, released this statement:
"The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution protects free speech, and we do the same. It does not appear this man stretched the right he has to free speech.
As a public institution, we cannot prevent people from being on campus and expressing their views in a non-violent manner. People are allowed to speak in outdoor spaces (traditional public forums) but may not enter buildings (to express their speech) or disrupt normal business operations of the institution, including pre-scheduled university functions such as classes and presentations. Written agreements are required for use of building spaces. If a person doesn't abide by this policy or breaks any laws, we would intervene immediately.
As soon as we are made aware of the man's presence on campus, university police as well as members of the Expressive Activities Committee proceeded to the site to observe the activity. The Expressive Activities Committee is a standing committee that meets regularly to monitor and respond to expressive activities on campus. The committee educates the campus on expressive activities and the legal issues surrounding them.
We have received very few formal complaints about the man's presence on campus. All members of the Island campus community are encouraged to report any incident in which safety is threatened. There are multiple ways to report situations, including notifying UPD, any administrator or the President's Office."
Sennette said he respects everyone's right to freedom of speech and religion, but this man has taken it too far.
"I understand freedom of speech but when you're coming in and harassing students I think there is a line and I feel like he definitely crossed it," he added.
Sennette said if anything, this man's lewd comments have brought the Islander community together; to lift each other up instead of tearing one another down.
"You're invading our home, you're invading our privacy and we're not going to stand for it."
