Protesters turn silent

Assemblyman Chuck DeVore said history is what brought him to UCI Wednesday night to see Middle East historian Daniel Pipes speak.

Specifically, the history of Muslim Student Union members disrupting lectures that they don’t agree with, he said.

DeVore said what he saw Wednesday was a step in the right direction.

More than 50 students, mostly Muslim, sat in the audience for Pipes’ lecture in silent protest. Their mouths were covered with tape reading words like “hatred” “racism” and “Islamaphobia.” Shortly into his speech, they stood up and left, clearing half the room. There was no yelling, booing or chanting outside.

“He’s wasting his time in there,” Muslim Student Union president Omar Zarka told his peers afterward. “I think we definitely proved our point.”

The event’s organizers — the College Republicans, the David Project and The Objectivist Club — had six police officers on hand. They weren’t needed.

“What we saw today is probably kind of on the fringe or on the edge of basically doing violence to someone’s remarks,” DeVore said. “Certainly it’s better than screaming at him and rushing the stage.”

By those standards, Wednesday’s event seemed a success. Pipes spoke at UCI in February to a much different reception; there were more people there to listen and a much rowdier group of protesters.

During that speech, at least one Muslim student shouted at Pipes before he and dozens of his peers were escorted outside, where they chanted against Israel, sparking debate.

Wednesday’s event wasn’t nearly as controversial.

“I think as it was, there was a mild disruption,” DeVore said. “The sad irony is that the students walking out in lock-step basically denied themselves the ability to hear an alternative viewpoint that I think would be very useful for them.”