Protest Squashed at Valley Tech
Pro Palestinian/pro Gaza protests have broken out at colleges across the country in the past couple weeks. The protests at Columbia University and UCLA have gotten the most attention, but there have been some other high profile protests as well. At some of the colleges, the protesters have been treated with kid gloves, and the colleges have given concessions to them. At other schools, the protests have been squashed, and the protesters have been arrested.
5 pro Palestinian protesters showed up at the Valley Institute of Technology, affectionately referred to as Valley Tech, yesterday morning at approximately 8:30 am. Valley Tech is located in the Valley Plaza strip mall in Valley City just off Hwy. 13. Valley Tech is the anchor of the strip mall, and it’s located in the old Dougie’s Dollar Den. Valley Tech is an online college, so students are not there on a daily basis. They have 164 students currently, and they have 8 full time employees at the location in Valley City.
Valley Plaza security guard, Andy Fife, saw the protesters get out of a vehicle in the parking lot. He quickly told all the tenants including Valley Tech to lock their doors. The protesters headed to Valley Tech, but they couldn’t get it in. So, they stood in front of Valley Tech and began protesting and chanting. Fife said, “I called my deputy, Barney Griffith, to come join me. Generally, I only call him when there’s a big sale at one of the stores and for the annual Valley City Circus in the parking lot. I wanted him there in case these people started acting a fool.”
Fife said, “I let them protest until Barney showed up, and then I told them that they had to leave. They yelled some obscenities at us, and they told me that I was a Fascist colonizer. Barney wanted me to call the police, but I told him that we could easily handle these light weights. They said they weren’t leaving, and I told them we can do this the hard way if you want to. I told Barney I would get the 3 guys, and he could take care of the 2 gals. We had to drag each protester away to their vehicle. A couple were way too big to carry, so we just drug them one by one. One of the girls did give Barney some trouble, so he just picked her up and dropped her by their vehicle. They didn’t resist me; they didn’t want any smoke. They know I don’t play.”
The protesters had their eye on the American flag in the parking lot after being dragged to their vehicle. Fife said, “They said they were going to take the down the American flag and raise a Palestinian flag, and I told them they better not think about doing that. You better not mess with Old Glory. I told them that I would mace them in a heartbeat. They got in their car and drove off.”
It’s surprising that protesters showed up in Valley City. This idyllic town has never experienced anything like this, but things are crazy these days. Fife said, “I don’t think these morons even go to school at Valley Tech; they were probably paid. One of them misspelled Palestine on her sign; they probably couldn’t locate Palestine on a map if their lives depended on it. They better be glad we got rid of them before Gary’s Gun Shop opened up. His customers would’ve treated them much harsher than Barney and me.”
None of the protesters could be reached for comment. Valley Tech put out a statement thanking Andy and Barney for taking care of the situation.