Brown students vandalize U.S. flags on eve of Veterans Day

Students at Brown University vandalized a memorial to veterans on the eve of their holiday, ripping several American flags in half and tearing them to shreds.

One student who helped organize the memorial, Nicky Strada, took to Facebook to express outrage at the fact that classmates haddisrespected America’s war heroes and the country’s flag.

“Today was a sad day. Hundreds of flags were set up on the main green of Brown University by 2 veterans in honor of Veterans Day tomorrow, and when I got out of class, people had snapped them, ripped them, and threw them aside,” Strada recounted.

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Indeed, an accompanying video shows one student collecting a pile of American flags, aggressively throwing them on the ground, and leaving them trashed under a tree.

“One person actually stomped on and snapped all of the ones I put back,” Strada noted, “and when I asked her to stop, and explained that they were for Veterans Day, she said ‘I don’t care about that.’”

The flags were eventually replaced by student volunteers, the university confirmed.

“According to some accounts we have received, members of our community diligently worked to restore flags, some of which had been removed and left nearby,” Brown’s Director of News and Editorial Development, Brian Clark, told Campus Reform. “Every year on November 11—and this year is no exception—members of our campus community come together to honor our veterans and their commitment to serving our country.”

Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @kassydillon