It seems GMU has forgotten its namesake’s legacy. So here’s a reminder: calling the cops over political commentary has no place at an American university bound by the First Amendment.
On April 16, GMU student Nicholas Decker published a Substack essay titled “When Must We Kill Them?,” a provocative piece exploring whether violence is ever justified as a last resort against what he perceives as tyranny under the Trump administration. The essay explicitly warns that force is only defensible when all peaceful and legal avenues have been exhausted. Decker invokes the founding fathers to argue that violence “is to be employed only in defense of our Constitution, and of democracy.”
The next day, GMU referred Decker to “state and federal law enforcement for evaluation of criminal behavior” and denounced his essay as “not the Mason way.” Then came a knock at Decker’s door from the Secret Service. After reviewing his words, they agreed he broke no laws.
