Gaza Supporters Raise Palestinian Flag in Place of US Flag at UNC-Chapel Hill in Chaotic Scene
Turning Point USA Students Proudly Displayed American Flags During a Peaceful Counter-Protest Demonstration
Gaza supporters at the University of North Carolina (UNC) Chapel Hill tore down the American flag and hoisted the Palestinian flag in its place on campus as police officers scrambled to gain control of the chaotic demonstration. Turning Point USA students at the university responded by peacefully displaying American flags to counter-protest the students’ actions.
30 protesters were detained by police officers around 6 a.m. Tuesday morning while partaking in the “Triangle Gaza Solidarity Encampment” organized in part by UNC Students for Justice in Palestine. The encampment, mirroring dozens that have cropped up around the country, began Friday and similarly demanded that UNC divest from and cut all financial ties with Israel in protest of the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict which has sown deep division on American campuses.
Only six of the 30 individuals detained were arrested and transported to the Orange County Detention Center, according to the student newspaper at the university. The remaining individuals were released by authorities shortly after.
The UNC interim Chancellor Lee Roberts and Provost Christopher Clemens issued a letter to protesters approximately 30 minutes before sending in officers to make arrests urging demonstrators to dissemble the encampment, remove all signs, tents, tables, and other objects, and leave the premises.
Failure to disperse “will result in consequences including possible arrest, suspension from campus, and ultimately, expulsion from the university, which may prevent students from graduating,” the letter threatened.
Not long after, police rushed into the large crowd gathered in the courtyard where demonstrators were replacing the American flag, flown on the campus’ primary flag pole, with a Palestinian flag. Violent demonstrators began hurling objects at the officers, including full water bottles, according to one individual who captured video of the chaotic scene.
In response to the large-scale protests, staged by pro-Palestine student groups, patriotic Turning Point USA chapter members and other students displayed American flags and sang the U.S. National Anthem.
Reports are now surfacing that interim Chancellor Roberts, escorted by dozens of law enforcement officers, is planning to re-raise the American flag despite the hundreds of Gaza war protesters gathered in the courtyard.
