-
1 of 10
-
2 of 10
-
3 of 10
-
4 of 10
-
5 of 10
-
6 of 10
-
7 of 10
-
8 of 10
-
9 of 10
-
10 of 10
Simcox enflames immigration debate
Archive
Comments
Story
Approximately 200 people filled the Lookout Room at the Boise State Student Union Building Tuesday evening to hear Minuteman Civil Defense Corps founder Chris Simcox speak. Simcox was invited by the Boise State College Republicans to speak about his organization and its view on securing our borders. More than half of the audience wore red shirts symbolizing their protest to Simcox’ message.
"We want to let him know that his hate speech is not welcome," Lucia Venegas said. Venegas, a Boise State graduate student in counseling said she feels his presence made some students feel unwelcome at BSU.
The animosity began before the speech even started. Faculty, students and community members gathered in the Cultural Center beforehand, where Student Union Director Jack Rahmann spoke to the protestors about rules concerning conduct at events held in the SUB. Despite disagreements interpreting these rules, the protestors quietly made their way to the Lookout Room. The protestors purposefully filled every other seat to accentuate their presence.
Simcox began by thanking the College Republicans for inviting him to tackle this controversial issue. "There seems to be growing friction and ethnic strife," Simcox said. He claims this is the result of government inaction. Simcox expressed that both Northern and Southern borders have security problems and that this is the fault of the U.S. government. "We challenge federal authorities to do their job," Simcox said. "We are leading a reform movement." The organization was founded in October 2002 to address the issue of illegal entry to the United States. There are 117 chapters across the nation and 10,000 volunteers.
