WATCH: Police forcibly remove an outraged 'undocumented' Cornell professor who repeatedly disrupted Ann Coulter's talk titled 'Immigration: The Conspiracy to End America'

'She kept objecting quite loudly, gave Ann the finger repeatedly ...' @CollegeFix pic.twitter.com/xbjshmQM1m

— The College Fix (@CollegeFix) April 17, 2024

I have previously written that universities must draw a clear distinction between free speech and this type of disruptive conduct. Cornejo has every right to protest outside of the event. However, preventing others from speaking or hearing opposing views is not free speech. It is the antithesis of free speech. It will continue until universities show the courage to discipline faculty or students engaging in such conduct.

The removal of Cornejo showed a commitment to free speech by the school. Often schools remain passive or enforce a heckler’s veto in such cases.

Yet, removal alone is not sufficient. Protesters will often plan a series of disruptions to effectively shutdown an event. Moreover, the university stated publicly that it wanted to show that such an event could occur on campus without disruption. This faculty member defied that policy and elected to heckle and disrupt the event.