TAKAAKI IWABU - tiwabu@newsobserver.com
UNC students who are against the visit by former Congressman Tom Tancredo continued their protest outside after they walked out from his speech Monday night.
CHAPEL HILL -- At least 100 protesters walked out on former congressman Tom Tancredo as he spoke on the values of Western culture at UNC-Chapel Hill tonight.
The group stood in unison, yelling, "No human is illegal," before moving outside the Student Union and into the Pit, a tradition spot on campus for speaking out on issues.
A loud laugh from Kevin Deanna, founder of Youth for Civilization, the national group that sponsored Tancredo's speech, was as close as the event got to the friction of last year's event.
When Tancredo visited UNC a year ago, Students for a Democratic Society shouted him down, held banners in front of him and marched through the hallway outside the overcrowded classroom where he spoke. Criminal charges were filed against one student, but were later dropped.
As the demonstrators filed out of the union auditorium tonight, Tancredo said fear of debate was driving them away.
"No one here is afraid of you," one yelled. But most were silent.
Of about 100 left behind, most shared Tancredo's perspective. But when he suggested that conservative student activists never behave as badly as those who broke a window and disrupted his speech last spring, another protester shouted, "No, you lynched people."
"I'm glad that they showed what they really do believe in, and that's censorship," Tancredo went on.
From there, he was able to continue his speech and answer questions from a supportive audience.
Meanwhile, in the Pit, student groups comprising Hispanics, feminists and black student activists held a pro-immigrant rally.
