First Amendment Coalition – David Synder
March 12, 2018
The university initially refused to disclose the footage showing the secretary being heckled by protesters.
The University of California Los Angeles has turned over video footage of a contentious event with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin in which he was interrupted by heckling student protesters. The university initially refused to publish the material after Mnuchin “revoked his consent” for it to be shared publicly, but the school eventually gave in after a flood of public requests from the First Amendment Coalition and other groups.
The moderated discussion with Mnuchin, hosted by the Burkle Center for International Relations at UCLA, took place on Feb. 26. During the event, audience members shouted heckles at Mnuchin, and several protesters were removed by police officers. After the event, in an unusual move, Mnuchin “retracted his permission” for the university to release video or audio of the event.
After UCLA refused to publish the video, groups—including FAC—responded by filing a flurry of requests under the California Public Records Act seeking the footage. [READ MORE]