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On February 10, 2018 the University of Washington campus witnessed two rallies; a rally hosted by the UW College Republicans and UW Stands in Solidarity Against Hate. The UW College Republicans invited speakers from the Vancouver, Washington based conservative group, Patriot Prayer. UWCR assembled in UW’s Red Square at 1:00 PM where participants listened to speeches by Joey Gibson, an American conservative political activist and founder of Patriot Prayer, and Chevy Swanson, president of College Republicans at the University of Washington. This event was deemed by UWCR as a free speech rally. Swanson stated, “This rally needed to happen because this rally proved that we don’t actually have the free speech rights that we thought we did on this campus” (crosscut.com) after being told by the University of Washington they would have to pay a $17,000 security fee for this event. The UWCR decided to sue over this fee, stating it was placing a tax on free speech and a violation of their constitutional rights. The Friday before the rally, U.S. District Court Judge Martha J. Pechman temporarily blocked the University from charging the student group (kuow.org).

A counter-protest rally (UW Stands in Solidarity Against Hate) organized in part by the UW International Socialist Organization assembled at the Husky Union Building at 12:00pm. An hour later the participants marched to Red Square to protest the UWCR rally where police had set up barricades to keep the two groups separate. Confrontations from these rallies resulted in the arrest of five participants and the burning of an American flag. A statement on the UW International Socialist Organization’s Facebook page reads, “We, the undersigned organizations, have shared an understanding and commitment to confront racism, sexism, xenophobia, and all other forms of discrimination and oppression on our campus and in our community.” The UW International Socialist Organization stood in solidarity with Anti-Capitalists of UW, CARE at UW, Huskies for Food Justice, Huskies for NARAL Pro-Choice Washington, Evans School Partnership for Community and Diversity, International Socialist Organization at UW, Jewish Voice for Peace, Palestine Solidarity Committee, Seattle Clinic Defense, Social Equity Educators, Socialist Alternative at UW, Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights at UW, United Students Against Sweatshops at UW, Veterans for Peace, and Young Democratic Socialists at UW. Members of Refuse Fascism also participated in this event.