KTTH OPINION

Rantz exclusive: UW professor assaulted at autonomous Liberated Zone as admin keeps cops away

May 7, 2024, 5:50 PM | Updated: May 8, 2024, 6:25 am

Photo: The UW Liberated Zone....

The UW Liberated Zone. (Image courtesy of Jason Rantz, KTTH)

(Image courtesy of Jason Rantz, KTTH)

A professor was assaulted at the autonomous University of Washington (UW) Liberated Zone. It was recorded on video.

Computer sciences professor Stuart Reges was touring the growing antisemitic encampment for “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH on Tuesday morning. Within minutes, as had been the case when he previously arrived, Reges was immediately swarmed by activists acting as security.

“Within a few minutes, I had three people surrounding me with umbrellas. That grew to five people surrounding me with umbrellas,” Reges exclusively told “The Jason Rantz Show.” “And they have some code, I guess, where they say, ‘Doctor, Doctor, there’s a doctor coming,’ which means somebody’s filming. So you’re supposed to mask up so they won’t see your face.”

Minutes later, the professor was hit in the back of the head by an unidentified male activist. The man fled after the assault.

“I suddenly got hit in the side of the head. Boom, really hard hit in the side of the head. People were shocked. You could kind of hear from the protesters, that they were like, ‘Whoa.’ And this guy runs off,” Reges explained.

More from Jason Rantz: UW Seattle activists say their First Amendment rights threatened by speaker they don’t like

What does the recording of the assault at the UW Liberated Zone show?

Reges was filming via his cell phone at the time of the assault. In the video, you hear a thud on his head, followed by an activist saying, “Hey! Back up, back up. Get out of here! Go on.” He dropped his phone from the force of the unexpected assault.

“I was just struck by someone, very hard, in the head,” Reges tells one of the protesters.

“Are you alright?” another masked activist asked. He then immediately said, “They are not affiliated with us. We’re not here to attack people. I don’t know where they came from. That’s why they ran off.”

Reges responded by noting there is Antifa symbols tagged around the encampment.

“Do you have Antifa folks here?” Reges asked.

“Uh, no comment on that,” the activist responded.

‘There’s some soreness … a little lightheaded’

Reges declined to see one of the encampment medics, before walking away. He was, again, surrounded by activists with umbrellas, harassed and stalked, until he left.

“There’s some soreness and you know, a little lightheaded, you know, but if it gets worse, I know that if I start experiencing dizziness, or something, that I should seek medical care. So I think I’m OK. It wasn’t that hard of a hit. It was more just kind of jolting, that book, I get hit from behind when I wasn’t expecting it,” Reges said.

When he returned to his office, Reges reported the assault to the UW Police (UWPD). Officers are not being allowed to proactively enter the zone because their presence would anger activists.

More from Jason Rantz: Watch an unhinged student yell ‘shame’ at pro-Israel man at UW encampment

UW administrators refuse to take action

UW administrators, including President Ana Marie Cauce, are aware of activists harassing and stalking Reges and anyone else they do not wish to be inside their encampment. But they refuse to act.

A UW spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on the assault at the Liberated Zone.

Previously, an administrator indicated that the UW Police will not engage until there’s a life-threatening emergency.

“UWPD will monitor the event actively from the start and be prepared to respond if the event escalates and threatens life safety … The priorities are always safety for all and continuity of university operations,” Vice President for Campus Security and Safety Sally Clark said, according to a document obtained by “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH.

Reges isn’t surprised that he was assaulted. He fears the encampment will continue to escalate and there will be more violence.

Listen to The Jason Rantz Show on weekday afternoons from 3-7 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the podcast here. Follow Jason on X, formerly known as TwitterInstagram and Facebook.

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