Two University police officers escorted Gary Birdsong, better known as the Pit Preacher, off campus late Thursday morning after issuing him a trespassing warning.
Officers issued the warning after Birdsong refused to leave the Pit when asked, said Randy Young, spokesman for the Department of Public Safety.
The warning states that Birdsong can be arrested if he sets foot on campus within the next two years.
Birdsong, who has preached in the Pit since the '80s, said he is appealing the warning to DPS higher-ups.
The officers approached Birdsong after receiving a complaint from Carolina Adventures, an organization that reserved half of the Pit to promote programs.
David Yeargan, the expedition program manager for Carolina Adventures, said Birdsong interfered with the organization's ability to broadcast its message.
"After about five minutes after I got set up, Mr. Birdsong came and stood four or five feet from the table," said Yeargan, a UNC staff member.
He said he asked Birdsong, who was preaching about the evils of homosexuality, to move away from his table.
Yeargan said that when Birdsong refused to move, he approached the officers to help him handle the situation.
"I was preaching the gospel, and the security came up and said that the boy behind me had a permit," Birdsong said.
He said the officers refused to produce the permit when he asked to see it.
Birdsong finally agreed to move, but Yeargan said he moved only five feet and refused to move again - opting to take the punishment rather than accept the attempt to regulate his speech.
Officers then wrote the warning and escorted Birdsong off campus, amid jeers from students about violation of free-speech rights.
The Pit, one of the free-speech zones on campus, has historically been a venue for radical speakers to present their views.
But even some of most famous locations for free speech can be controlled, said Bill Marshall, a UNC law professor who specializes in First Amendment rights.
"Even if you have a public forum, you can regulate the use of it - as long as you can do it on an equal basis," Marshall said.
Young said that when speech keeps the University or a recognized entity from operating, it can be regulated.
Because the campus organization had reserved Pit and Yeargan reported Birdsong as an interference, he was considered to be trespassing, Young said.
Second-degree trespassing occurs after a person has been notified not to enter or remain on the premises by the owner or other authorized person, according to N.C. law.
Yeargan said that he applied for the reservation of half of the Pit though Events Planning but that he was not exactly sure what privileges the reservation entitled him.
Events Planning staff did not return calls or answer e-mail inquiries about how a reservation of the Pit affects free speech.
"From my understanding of it, I was the only one there who could present," Yeargan said. "He wasn't just standing there; he was presenting."
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