When Mike France was chair of the state Legislature's Conservative Caucus, he sent in bills like 2021's HB 5108 almost every year, which demanded that campuses protect free speech.

France and his caucus were inspired by so-called "free speech absolutists" like Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who signed a similar bill in 2019. Wouldn't you know, just as Greg Abbott sent in the police to break up peaceful campus protests in Texas, France issued a statement demanding that protesters on Connecticut campuses face criminal charges and be declared terrorists. His hypocrisy on this topic is undeniable, and proof that he is just following directions from the worst players the GOP has to offer.

Does he know that May 4 was the 54th anniversary of the Kent State shootings, where police shot students during a campus protest? There are thousands of voting-age college students on campuses all over the Second Congressional District who deserve better treatment than what France suggested, and who will remember his hypocrisy here.

Jacob Hurt

Gales Ferry