UMass Amherst Protesters Called Karl Rove a ‘Terrorist’

Screenshot via CBS 3

Karl Rove probably knew when he agreed to a speaking engagement at the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus that this wouldn’t be his crowd. And boy did UMass students confirm that as protesters shouted “murderer” and “terrorist” at him throughout his speech to the UMass and Smith College Republicans Monday evening.

A CBS 3 report has footage of the confrontation (as well as commentary from a protester who thought the Amherst community ought to be making a citizens arrest of Rove, which … well, the arrest was unsuccessful. We’ll leave it there.) The protests centered around Rove’s role in the Bush Administration as it launched the Iraq War. The Springfield Republican reports that Rove lost his cool at one point as he addressed the hecklers:

“If you object to that, I want you to show up the next time Hillary Clinton comes here and tell her you disagree with her vote,” Rove yelled back as he completely lost his temper on stage. “It’s either that or you’re saying those people were hoodwinked and that’s an insult to those people including Harry Reid, Hillary Clinton, and others.”

Ugh, it’s so like a political operative to take a criticism of alleged war crimes and change the conversation to which party should be held to account. At any rate, UMass Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy took the stage at one point to quell the outbursts, and police eventually escorted the protesters from the venue.

Rove tends to get the whole “war criminal” thing a lot. So he had to know there’d be protesters in a place like Amherst, begging the question of why he came at all. The Republican notes that “Rove dropped his typical $25,000 speaking fee to $15,000 so the students could afford to book him.” Ahhh, it’s all so clear now.