Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
by William Harris
“‘I had a sniper gun pointed at me when trying to defend a protest that was in compliance with school policies.’ The student who wrote that line in FIRE’s annual free speech survey wasn’t using a metaphor. They were describing a spring afternoon in 2024 at Indiana University’s Dunn Meadow … when officers with rifles took positions on the roof of the Indiana Memorial Union over the heads of student protesters. Indiana State Police later confirmed they had positioned officers ‘with sniper capabilities’ on rooftops. The night before, administrators had convened an ad hoc meeting that rewrote IU’s Outdoor Spaces policy to require approval for structures that had long been permitted. By morning, a peaceful protest was recast as a policy violation. By noon, state police had taken a ‘closed sniper position’ above the lawn.” (11/10/25)