Students with the Young Americans for Freedom chapter at the University of Florida recently called the police after students tore down and stole their “Build the Wall” banner.
Members of the group said they obtained a permit to display a banner in one of the University’s “free speech zones.” Within hours of putting up the first banner, several students tore it down and stole it in protest, forcing the chapter to raise additional funds to design and re-display a new banner.
Afterward, another group of students attempted to tear down the banner but ran away upon failing to do so. YAF members Dylan Finucan, Victor Santos, and Phillip Smith videotaped the students and asked them to return their property.
While pursuing the students, a blue-haired female wearing pink can be seen physically attempting to remove a smartphone from Santos. “Excuse me, please do not touch him,” requested Smith.
As the students continued to walk away after attempting to steal the banner, one unidentified student confronted Smith yelling, “Get the fuck out of my face!”
Smith responded, “We want to make sure the police find you because you did something illegal.”
“That’s called freedom of speech,” said the blue-haired female to which Smith responded, “That’s not freedom of speech, that’s theft.”
At one point, the confrontation became physical after the students attempted to block Santos, Finucan, and Smith from following them onto a bus. Santos boarded the bus and asked the driver not to transport the students because they “committed a crime.” When the blue-haired student demanded that Santos get off the bus Finucan replied, “He has every right to get on the bus as you do.”
After police arrived on the scene, the members filed police reports with the University of Florida Police. Red Alert Politics obtained one report filed by UF student Victor Santos after the first incident. Red Alert Politics also contacted UFPD and they declined to release the additional two reports because they are open and ongoing investigations.
“I am unable to send out the report you are requesting because a sworn complaint was completed for the incident, therefore it is still considered an active investigation,” said UFPD Records Division representative Emily Lowrimore.
UF YAF Police Report by Washington Examiner on Scribd
After managing to reinstall the banner, another group approached the banner and physically cut it down. During this incident, the group of students cut down banners from both YAF and a separate club, which intended to promote gymnastics, and broke part of the university’s rigging system, which allows all student organizations to exercise free speech.
“This is theft! This is literal theft! Can you please give me my property back? … Why did you steal our property?” Smith says in the video. A female student who walked away with the banner can be heard responding, “Y’all are trash-ass motherfuckers.”
Shortly after following the students, the YAF chapter called the police again to retrieve their property. One officer can be heard warning the students about the consequences of being arrested. YAF members again filed a police report.
“YAF nationals reached out to their top chapters in the country to stand for strong borders and national sovereignty,” said UF YAF President Sarah Long. “We were among those selected and executed the idea. I did not expect a three-word banner to require round-the-clock security.”
Long also gave a statement in a press release put out by UF YAF on social media, which detailed their response to the incident.
“I find it sad that on a university campus, a place where intellectual diversity should flourish, that people felt a need to vandalize and steal our property, simply because they didn’t like the message,” said Finucan, a member involved in the incident. “YAF is always up for a discussion with those who disagree, but this wasn’t a discussion, this wasn’t dialogue, this was a crime.”
Red Alert Politics also reached out to the university for comment on the incidents and asked if the school would change its policies to prevent future incidents of speech suppression or if they would condemn acts to suppress speech.
“The University of Florida supports the First Amendment right to freedom of expression,” said UF spokesman Steve Orlando. “UF encourages the free exchange of ideas and embraces its role as a place where people from all walks of life come to debate, agree or disagree and express themselves without fear of censorship or reprisal.” Additionally, Orlando provided a link which contains the university’s position on public discourse.
Anthony Leonardi is a contributor to Red Alert Politics. He’s a third-year student at the University of Florida, where he runs thinkoutsidepolitics.com.
