Yesterday I went to go to the speech that Ann Coulter was giving here in Ottawa with my boyfriend. Unlike pretty much every single person I had talked to there, we had registered for the event. It was going to be awesome: we were going to witness extremist bigotry first hand. Unfortunately, the speech was canceled due to “security concerns.” Here’s how it all went down.
Listen to the sounds of the protest, from inside the lobby of Marion Hall:
- Ann Coulter Protest, University of Ottawa 2010 [MP3, 1.3MB]
The plan was simple. The doors opened at 7:00PM. Ezra Levant, a Canadian ultra-conservative, would speak at 7:30PM. Ann Coulter would follow with her own speech, and then with a Q&A session. Finally, the evening would finish off with a book signing.
I showed up at 6:30. By then, there was already a long line-up in front of Marion Hall, where the event was set to take place. I’d guess that there were 400 people ahead of us; the approximate capacity of the lecture hall itself. The line-up behind us quickly formed: people were just piling in.
Two things were quickly evident. First, the organizers were nowhere in sight. There was no crowd control to speak of, though everyone was extremely civil. Secondly, only a handful of those now thousand plus individuals were actually fans of hers. The rest were protesters under the guise of normal attendees.
At about five to seven, some young student, which I assume was part of the organization committee, came around the line to tell everyone how it would go down: we would be split at the door into four lines, where people at desks would take our name and allow us in. Those who hadn’t registered would not be able to gain entry.
That would be the last time I saw him or anyone purporting to be related to handling the event. Other than the one young girl selling Coulter’s books inside, I never saw anyone related to the event.
At approximately 7:00PM, the shit hit the fan. The line started to move forward, extremely slowly. A secondary crowd of protesters came up to the line, and started chanting away against allowing hate on campus. They didn’t realize that everyone in the crowd agreed with their ideals, but had taken on a more subtle approach to the protest.
By now, there were easily two thousand people. The line collapsed, and everyone made a run for the door. People were chanting and tapping against the windows of the building. I got into the building. Someone pulled the fire alarm.
There was still no one to manage the crowd. Sporadic chants erupted. A lone campus security person appeared, and tried to get people out of the crowded lobby of Marion Hall. It worked, albeit very ineffectively. People were still huddled inside. I held up with the crowds, waiting to see what would happen. Though we couldn’t hear the alarm ring, I was worried of what would happen once we could.
Eventually, a few cops showed up. People evacuated in a more effective manner. I got out of the building, and joined up with a friend of mine – the one who had informed me of the event, and who had registered me. After the alarm was deactivated, the line reformed. The crowd had reduced in size.
I got out of the line, and decided that I would get inside the building another way. All except the main doors were locked, but this had been my university, and I knew the tunnel system. I bolted for another building with my boyfriend, took a special stairwell to the sub-basement, and went down the access tunnels to Marion.
We got into the building. As we were heading back up the stairs in Marion, we encountered another group that had done the same. They warned us not to try the entrance to the lecture hall that we had planned to take. There were people there guarding the choke point. This was a no-go. We exited the building, and rejoined the crowd.
It had again reduced in size. By this point, I realized that it was inevitable that the event would be canceled. It was getting close to 8:00PM, and the speech hadn’t taken place yet. Fifteen minutes later, cop cars started to show up.
At first, there were two cop cars. Within seconds, there were eight. That was my cue: this was definitively going to be canceled. It should be noted that the protesters were quiet, except for the few sporadic chants here and there.
The cops came up and informed that the event was canceled. I left with my boyfriend and friend.
Had the organizers of the event had five or six people to handle the crowds, this event would have taken place. But they literally had no one. Ann Coulter’s event wasn’t canceled due to “security concerns”. It was canceled because they didn’t have the manpower to process the volume of people that showed up.
Memorable event of the night: A supporter in line with us started to be visibly agitated when he saw a person hold a sign that said “No Hate”. The person holding the sign was quiet, and was not in line. The supporter started to yell at the person, claiming that holding a sign protesting hate was itself hateful.
Images courtesy of the Ottawa Citizen.
Comments
7 responses to “Ann Coulter in Ottawa”
Thanks for some truth on this. It seems like all the other reporters of the events are propogating very different stories.
I have a feeling that had Ann Coulter been able to speak it would not have lasted long. The only downside to this incident in my opinion is that this woman got so much free publicity out of it.
You are to be congratulated for your desire to have a more subtle form of protest against Ms Coulter’s inflammatory words.
The loud demonstrative protesters completely miss the point.
Also…you’re right: Where were the organizers?
I think what disappoints me most about this whole thing was simply that she wasn’t allowed the opportunity to speak. While I don’t agree with her rhetoric, I do think it’s a fundamental right for people to be able to say what they want regardless of content. It’s a slippery slope to censor people who say things we don’t like to hear.
And I’m surprised Uof0 was only able to scrounge up one security guard. Perhaps the rest were busy kicking students who couldn’t/wouldn’t provide their student cards out of the study lounges.
I agree. That said, I wouldn’t say that it was censorship that prevented her from speaking.
No one told her she wasn’t allowed to speak. Had the protesters not been there, her talk would have gone on as planned.
That the protesters would be present was inevitable given her fame, well-established bigotry, and recent coverage. All that was required on behalf of the organizers was some people for crowd management, so that the protesters didn’t interfere with the proceedings.
This is Ann Coulter. The protesters would have been there. So I say it fell to the organizers to be able to handle the event, and they dropped the ball.
A shameful performance on behalf of this city, to be sure. However, it is not nearly as shameful as your profound failure to plug my upcoming book, Surrogate Stars, on your blog. I trust you will correct this with haste.
Sincerely,
J.T. Alfons
Author, Surrogate Stars
PS. I am the author of Surrogate Stars.
PPS. Surrogate Stars is a novel written by me.
J.T Alfron’s book is a hate crime, and is racist against pizza and small children!
I’m honored to have been in a crowd that popped Ann’s shut down a show cherry. At least we know she’s gotten some sort of action in this decade!