'Trump-er stickers' vandalized, Republican students harassed at Saint Mary's College

A student at Saint Mary’s College (SMC) of California is facing harassment by his peers for displaying a “Trump-er Sticker” on his vehicle.

Student Ryan Busbee’s property has been repeatedly vandalized. A photo provided to Campus Reform shows the decal of Trump’s name covered with a sticker bearing the name “Hitler.” Another sticker on the student’s car, with the slogan “God Fearin’, Bible Believin, Gun Packin’, America Lovin,’” was left unaltered.

Prior to the sticker being covered with Hitler’s name, a different “Trump-er Sticker” had been scribbled out with red ink, and eventually was ripped off of the student’s car by unknown vandals.

“Removal and coloring over/covering up of my Trump sticker is an infringement of my freedom of speech to proclaim Trump as the presidential candidate I am supporting,” Busbee told Campus Reform. “Not to mention, what these people have done is touch my personal property and they should not do that. Basic rules/laws state that.”

Busbee has since filed three “bias incident report” forms with his school’s public safety department and reported the incident to his local police department.

Busbee provided copies of the reports to Campus Reform. In one instance, Busbee claims his car was approached while he was inside. Three unknown students approached his vehicle and began taking photos of his bumper sticker.

 

 

“Oh, shit!” one suspect shouted when Busbee rolled down his window. Another student allegedly kicked Busbee’s tire before running off.

“Fuck Trump! Fuck Buzz!” the students allegedly shouted as they drove away, according to copies of the public safety reports.

Public safety told Busbee an investigation would not be conducted since there were no reported witnesses or suspects. Campus Reform reached out to Chief of Public Safety Adan Tejada several times to ask about the likelihood of an investigation but all calls went unanswered.

Additionally, Members of the College Republicans of SMC also told Campus Reform that they are frequently ridiculed on campus—not for openly endorsing any candidate but simply for being conservative.

“Our posters are defaced and sometimes outright torn down. We, as the SMC College Republicans[,] would never do such a thing to the Democratic club posters, or any other clubs on campus matter-of-factly,” they wrote in a statement to Campus Reform. “The thought never has crossed our minds to do something so disgraceful to another group of people. Doing so would go against our fundamental values in personal liberty. Of course we do not always agree with other’s opinions, but that does not mean we will try and block their opinion from anyone else.”

Recently, a poster advertising an upcoming party hosted by the College Republicans was allegedly defaced and eventually torn down.

 

Campus Reform reached out to the school for comment on the students’ claims but did not receive a response in time for publication.

UPDATED: This story has been amended to accurately portray the instances of bias and abuse against the student. A screenshot of a Yik Yak post that was previously included has been removed due to concerns about its authenticity. 

Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @AGockowski