University of Massachusetts-Amherst was the target of protest when former United Freedom Front member and convicted terrorist Ray Luc Levasseur was invited to speak last Thursday but was ultimately barred from attending by his parole.
The forum was initially scheduled to include a speech by Levasseur about a 1989 federal sedition trial he was involved in. But after initial objections from Gov. Deval Patrick and UMass President Jack Wilson, the U.S. Parole Commission decided last Wednesday that Levasseur would be violating his parole by crossing state lines if he were to leave his current residence in Maine to attend the event.
Despite Levasseur’s absence, the event, titled ‘The Great Western Massachusetts Sedition Trial: Twenty Years Later’ still took place Thursday before an audience of about 200. Levasseur’s ex-wife Pat Levasseur, also a former UFF member, spoke in his place.
An estimated 200 to 300 more people stood outside the event to protest the UMass Libraries’ initial invitation to have Levasseur speak, according to UMass-Amherst Deputy Chief of Police Patrick Archbald.
UMass-Amherst Chancellor Robert Holub said the university was disinterested in a speaker like Levasseur because of his questionable pertinence.
‘While the principle of academic freedom prevents us from barring such a speaker, no matter how repugnant his views, we call on the faculty and the campus community to find better-qualified, more appropriate speakers,’ Holub said in a statement.
UMass-Amherst senior Phil Southworth, who protested at the forum against Levasseur’s invitation, said he was there to support the late New Jersey State Trooper Philip Lamonaco, a victim of one of the UFF attacks Levasseur was responsible for in 1981.
‘This guy was a domestic terrorist, he was a cop-killer and he was in the United Freedom Front,’ Southworth said. ‘I did not feel it was appropriate for the university to provide him a platform to justify what they had done.’
Although many were angered by the decision to invite Levasseur to speak, Archbald said protests were peaceful.
‘It was a very solemn crowd,’ Archbald said. ‘They had their signs, they had their candles. I would agree that in many respects that it had the flavor of a memorial or at least a remembrance of that officer from New Jersey.’
Some students said they felt Levasseur’s appearance would have been beneficial for the event.
‘I feel that it is vital to allow someone like that to speak their mind on the trial in order for us to gain better insight for future reference,’ UMass-Amherst junior Victor Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez also said he was offended when he saw protestors holding signs reading ‘Shame on UMass.’
‘He has spoken at other universities with little to no opposition and I feel like some of these universities understand that this man had something for us to gain,’ Rodriguez said.
Many students said they had mixed feelings about the issue, and that they respected freedom of speech but were concerned about UMass’ reputation.
‘I work at my school’s annual fund where we call alumni and get donations,’ UMass-Amherst sophomore Samantha Zaruba said. ‘We had a lot of people who were really upset about it and said they did not want to give through annual fund to support UMass anymore because of the incident.’
Zaruba said she was concerned the memory of Levasseur would stick with UMass in the future.
‘I do not want my degree to say, ‘oh, UMass, this is the university that allows terrorists,” she said. ‘No, that is not what I want at my school.’