The Columbia College Student Council accuses the university administration ofimposing a policy of arbitrary repression ever since October, and become ever morecruel, arbitrary andunjustin the past weeks.

The universitydirectedviolent uniformed thugs at students it was falsely accusing of violence, all thewhile interfering with video recording of their violence. While claiming it wasstriving to "keep all members of our community physically safe", it opened the door tophysicaldanger to them. This is part of a broad pattern ofthugs committing violence against nonviolent protesters.

Some protesters werenotentirely nonviolent — throwing things atthugs is aggressive, as well as self-defeating since it givesthugs an excuse to commit violence against thoseprotesters and others too. It may also provoke them to the point that they loseself-control. That is not an excuse for their violence, but it is a reason not to provoke them.

The protest movement needs to develop nonviolence discipline, and marshals toenforce it, just as the civil rights movement and Vietnam peace movement did.