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"Forget about fraternity rush, spring break, and cramming for exams," FIRESenior Vice President Robert Shibley . "The students and faculty of Northern Kentucky University (NKU) have brought a disturbing new tradition to campus: justifying the destruction of pro-life displays as 'freedom of speech.'"

Robert notes that since at least 2006, pro-life student organization Northern Right to Life has had its public displays vandalized by vigilante censors. In 2006, a professor actually encouraged her students to express their views against the display by becoming destructive vandals. This year, a student followed suit after he was caught tearing down the display, declaring that this vandalism "was expressing our right to free speech."

But as Robert notes: "responding to speech through physical violence, against either people or objects, is a criminal act with no constitutional protection."

That should be obvious. Destroying someone else's display, blocking access to others' speech, or substantially disrupting a speech is not protected, yet somehow people persist in making the foolish claim that vigilante censorship is protected from punishment.