Thugs Harass Reporter at Islamist Speech in Berkeley

Wed, Oct 10, 2007 at 8:15:41 pm PDT

Remember Hatem Bazian? The UC Berkeley lecturer who called for ’An Intifada in This Country’?

When the Daily Californian’s Ethan Strauss attended a speech by Bazian on October 6, he was assaulted by thugs who grabbed his camera and demanded to know why he was there: The Daily Clog: No Pictures Taken & None Allowed at the Hatem Bazian Lecture.

Bazian and the Muslim student groups who sponsored the speech have denied that they had anything to do with the incident.

OK. Let’s take them at their word. So who are these thugs? They asked Strauss who he worked for, but who do they work for? Are they just freelance bullies, self-appointed muttawa who take it upon themselves to harrass journalists? Or they part of some unknown organization, “enforcers” with instructions to suppress coverage of their events?