A state representative is calling for an investigation of a UT-Austin student group.
“For those searching for answers as to how we got to the horrific murder of Charlie Kirk, here is exhibit A,” State Rep. Tom Oliverson (R–Cypress) wrote on social media. “I call on @UTAustin to investigate this immediately, and if accurate, to officially ban this group from campus.”
Oliverson was referring to Austin Students for a Democratic Society, a left-wing student group.
The group posted images to social media on Wednesday morning from an event held last week centered around immigration. One of the images featured the satirical use of a piñata to describe President Trump.
The images in question do not appear to have any connection to the assassination of Charlie Kirk or the anniversary of 9/11.
A 1988 U.S. Supreme Court decision ruled that satirical political speech is generally considered protected under the First Amendment. Exceptions to this include a “true threat,” as in “a statement that frightens or intimidates one or more specified persons into believing that they will be seriously harmed by the speaker.”
However, in a 1969 case, the Court protected an anti-war protester’s statement about wanting to get President Johnson “in my sights,” writing that it was political hyperbole rather than a genuine threat.
Students for a Democratic Society, after whom this Austin chapter is named, was a prominent part of the New Left movement in the 1960s. Originally founded to oppose the Vietnam War, the group turned increasingly radical.
An offshoot of the group, the Weathermen, was responsible for a string of terrorist attacks in the early 1970s. William Ayres, a founder of the weathermen, was a close political ally of former President Barack Obama.
Neither UT-Austin nor Austin SDS responded to a request for comment.
UT-Austin is a component of the UT System. The UT System is overseen by a board of regents that is appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Texas Senate.
