Student under fire for yelling:"Remember Chappaquiddick

[Matt]

http://tinyurl.com/gj6up

Posted: February 22, 2006
9:14 p.m. Eastern

By Ron Strom
© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com

A community college student in Massachusetts faces possible disciplinary action for shouting "Remember Chappaquiddick!" during an on-campus speech by Democrat Sen. Edward Kennedy.

Paul Trost, 20, a student at Massasoit Community College in Brockton, Mass., says he was upset by an introduction of Kennedy given by Rep. Stephen Lynch, D-Mass., in which the congressman noted how the long-time senator overcame hardship in life on his way to success.

"Lynch said Kennedy had overcome such adversity to get to the place he was, and that's a bunch of bull," Trost said of the introduction, which occurred in the school's student center Tuesday morning.

Just as Kennedy began speaking, Trost was walking out of the room when he shouted, "Remember Chappaquiddick!"

"Most of the crowd gasped," Trost said. "Then I walked out of the student center."

The student says a campus police officer went outside and stopped him. He also saw some state troopers go outside, the type who accompany Kennedy around the state to provide security.

Trost says the cop took down his information and told him he would be hearing from school officials about disciplinary action. A spokesman with the campus police verified the incident but stressed that Trost was not arrested.

The student said one of his teachers confronted him after a class about the Chappaquiddick issue.

"One of my teachers called me ignorant and told me this was an embarrassment to the school," Trost told WND. "She said to me, 'Can't you forgive him after all these years?' And I said, 'No, he killed somebody.'

"If it had been me or any other person, we'd be in jail," Trost says he told his instructor.

Referring to his two-word shout, Trost said, "I did it because I know about Kennedy's past. I know what happened at Chappaquiddick.

"I wanted to send a message to him that my generation still knows about it. We haven't forgotten about it."

Trost said he was satisfied to know that students on campus were talking about the Chappaquiddick incident later in the day – some of whom, in fact, were not familiar with it.

In 1969, Kennedy was driving a car that went off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island, off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, Mass. His passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne, was killed after the car landed upside down in the water. No autopsy was ever performed to determine her exact cause of death.

At the time, Kennedy claimed he tried several times to swim down to reach Kopechne to no avail. He came under fire for not reporting the incident to authorities until the next morning. In the interim he reportedly made an effort to call a family legal adviser.

"I haven't yet found out what's going to happen to me," Trost said, referring to the warning from campus police.

Trost, a liberal arts major who has protested the Iraq war, says he's not a right-winger.

"I tend to have what would be considered liberal views," he explained, "but I go with whatever I think is right."

"I don't regret what I did," Trost said. "And if they ask me to apologize, I won't do it."

Trost's father, Edward, who calls himself a conservative, says he's proud of his son.

"He didn't do it to be obnoxious," Edward Trost said. "He was really offended."

Today is Kennedy's birthday, as he turns 74.

[Rspaight]

So he shouted at Kennedy, walked out of the hall, claims campus police made threatening noises, and got yelled at by one of his profs?

This is news for WND? They're setting the bar for "campus oppression" awfully low these days. Used to be you could get shot for campus protests.

Ryan

[lukpac]

But he might get yelled at again.

[Matt]

I don't think he should have to face "possible" disciplinary action for free speech even if the comments were rude. They are making a bid deal out of nothing. Then again, it is Massachusetts and Ted.

[lukpac]

They are making a bid deal out of nothing.

If by "They" you mean WND, yes.

[Matt]

If by "They" you mean WND, yes.

By "They" I mean the administration at Massasoit Community College.

I assume you do not care for WND?

[Matt]

Man...He should wear a shirt.

[lukpac]

By "They" I mean the administration at Massasoit Community College.

Considering that at this point the only things that happened is somebody took down his information and one of his teachers yelled at him, no. What exactly has the administration done?

WND is the one making a big deal of nothing.

I assume you do not care for WND?

Considering they think this is big news, not really, no. Did they attempt to contact the administration or campus police?

[Matt]

Considering that at this point the only things that happened is somebody took down his information and one of his teachers yelled at him, no. What exactly has the administration done?

Nothing yet. The article does mention "possible disciplinary action", which I feel would be wrong to take against Trost.

Considering they think this is big news, not really, no. Did they attempt to contact the administration or campus police?

I can't say whether or not this was front page (or big) news on the WND site. It's the only place I have heard of this incident though. If WMD follows up they should contact the adminstration in my opinion.

[lukpac]

Nothing yet. The article does mention "possible disciplinary action", which I feel would be wrong to take against Trost.

That's all well and good, but it hasn't happened yet, nor has the administration even suggested it will happen. Pretty much the only meat so far is a campus cop pulling someone aside after making an outburst.

[Rspaight]

Considering the only one who's heard from in the article is Trost, we pretty much have to take his word for it that these things happened.

Even if every word is true, all we have is a single campus cop who took down his name after he created a disturbance at an event with a US Senator speaking on stage. Considering that you can get arrested for attending the State of the Union while wearing a politically incorrect T-shirt (or just for being brown), I'd say he got off easy.

It's the only place I have heard of this incident though.

WorldNetDaily is red meat for the loony right, part of the Bozell/Farah/Ruddy axis of propaganda web sites. The reason you didn't see this anywhere else is because no one else would run such a poorly researched story. "This kid says he yelled at Kennedy and the college may or may not be punishing him! His dad's proud of him! Don't bother to get comment from anyone else, just run it!"

Ryan

[lukpac]

Considering the only one who's heard from in the article is Trost, we pretty much have to take his word for it that these things happened.

To be fair to Matt and WND, *something* happened:

A spokesman with the campus police verified the incident but stressed that Trost was not arrested.

That doesn't mean there's any point behind this story, though.

[Rspaight]

Missed that sentence. Thanks. I never doubted that the "incident" happened, rather the details of the conversation between the student and the campus cop.

There *is* a difference between disciplinary action by the college and actual criminal charges/arrest. I gree that any serious action on the college's part would be overkill for this, but at the same time I'm sure it's not acceptable behavior at the school to shout slogans at guest speakers.

Point being, why should the student expect to *not* be "under fire" for doing what he did? He has a right to express himself, but the school has a right to enforce decorum at events it sponsors. (I'm sure that I'd be having a not-so-friendly chat with my HR manager if I started shouting "Who killed Lady Di?" at the Queen of England the next time she visits.) Civil disobedience does generally have *some* consequences, or it's kind of a meaningless gesture.

Ryan

[Bennett Cerf]

Remember the Alamo!

[Bennett Cerf]

"There is no disciplinary action planned against the student," Dick Cronin, Massasoit spokesman, said this morning. "The student was spoken to by campus police. That's the end of the matter."

http://enterprise.southofboston.com/art ... news01.txt