VIDEO: Campus cop takes no nonsense from childish vandals
Leftist students at Kennesaw State University (KSU) proudly shredded signs at a free speech event late last month, saying they promoted “violence.”
After the owners of the signs reported the vandals, a nearby campus police officer informed them that destruction of property is a crime, to which one vandal retorted by demanding a receipt.
Leftist students at Kennesaw State University (KSU) proudly shredded signs at a free speech event late last month, saying they promoted “violence.”
Video footage obtained by Campus Reform shows several students stealing signs and shredding them to pieces. The signs contained messages such as, “Abortion is murder #DefundPlannedParenthood,” “There are only two genders,” and “The gender wage gap, Harry Potter, Both Fantasy.”
Javid Ona, president of the College Libertarians at KSU, told Campus Reform that the signs were posted by individuals as part of a free speech event and did not necessarily represent the views of all the groups involved, noting that there were “groups from across the political spectrum.”
[RELATED: School employees allegedly vandalized conservative signs]
“Are you serious? You’re gunna sit here and promote this stuff and then get pissed when they rip it up?” one vandal taunted the participants as the signs were being torn, while another justified the destruction by proclaiming that a certain sign promoted “violence against transgender people like myself.”
When the owner of one of the signs asked them if they had the right to destroy someone else’s property, another protester interjected, “Is it your property?”
“Yes,” the owner replied.
“Does it have your name on it?” she asked with a grin.
Another protester commented on the nature of the signs and discussed the merits of how the opinions were expressed, saying she thought the situation “would be different if [the signs] posed a question.”
Several students reported the vandalism to a police officer who was present to monitor the event, who then took the vandals aside and began to question them.
The officer informed the protesters that they “do not have the right not the tear up someone else’s property,” telling them “that is a crime because it’s someone else’s property.”
When one protester objected that the posters were “hate speech,” the officer answered that the sign holders “have the right to say what they want. It’s an opinion on a posterboard. You can just walk away. That’s all there is to it,” the visibly frustrated officer continued.
[RELATED: VIDEO: Student freaks out at Donald Trump sign on campus]
Another protester—who refused to identify herself to the officer—then interjected to demand proof of ownership, asking, “May I see the receipt for it?”
“Oh my god. Do you want to do it this way?” the evidently exasperated officer responded. “I can take you to jail if you don’t identify yourself. That’s how this works.”
After other protesters consistently interrupted the police officer, he took the protesters aside.
“Jesus. I’ll tell you what,” he began, pointing to two of the protesters. “You and you walk over to my car and we’re going to talk away from all these people so that we can have a conversation without anybody else interrupting.”
After they balked at the idea, the officer escorted the protesters to his car and detained them, but the owners of the signs ultimately decided not to press charges.
Campus Reform reached out to the university for a statement, and will update this article if and when a response is provided.
Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @KylePerisic