Campus Reform – by Jonathan McCormick
A student at the University of Michigan is being investigated by campus police after he was recorded stealing and destroying recruitment materials from a conservative student group. The video shows the vandal dumping items onto the ground, tearing-up signs and throwing property in the trash.
When one of the TPUSA members told the vandal “Stop it. It’s against the law to steal,” the vandal replied, “You know what else is against the law? Hate speech.” Another member asked the vandal “What were we doing that was hateful, sir?” to which he replied, “Nothing.”
The vandal continued his destruction by attempting to deflate the group’s free speech ball display. However, he discovered that the ball was “not deflating quick enough,” and moved on to tear up the chapter’s hand-drawn sign advertising “free hot cocoa and cookies” and crumple up the TPUSA signs that were saying things like “free speech,” and “I ❤America!”
Later, the vandal grabbed a permanent marker and approached the person recording the incident, motioning as if he was threatening to destroy the camera lens. The vandal taunted the recording student, saying, “I thought you want an autograph. Why you backing up, buddy?”
After destroying the TPUSA chapter’s property, the vandal mocked the conservative students saying, “I feel, like, so bad because I’m, like, intimidated and, like, I just feel like so bad.”
While the vandal was destroying the TPUSA property, a member asked him “The women’s studies major isn’t helping you, is it?” The vandal replied, “I study d**k study.”
University of Michigan Deputy Chief of Police Melissa Overton confirmed to Campus Reform that the case is currently under investigation but that “nothing else can be shared at this time.”
TPUSA Chapter President Austin McIntosh told Campus Reform that he met with the associate dean of students and “a conflict resolution person” after the incident who told him that getting a resolution would be a “long process.”
“At first they said, ‘So, what we can do is we can look into trying to get him where you guys can come together and talk about it and he can apologize for it.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s not enough. I want more than that. I want him to be suspended. I want him to pay restitution for the damage he’s done.’” McIntosh said.
The chapter president told Campus Reform that the school officials responded by telling him to express his desires in his report of the incident. McIntosh said his next steps are to fill out the report. “I’m going to fill out what punishments I think he should receive,” McIntosh said.
“They’ll take a look at it and then they’ll let him [the vandal] know what’s gonna happen with his punishment or if he’s gonna have to just issue an apology,” McIntosh explained.
McIntosh expressed his desire to make the perpetrator repay for the property loss of the TPUSA chapter saying, “But when I walked away from the meeting it was pretty much they’re saying that it looks like what they want to do is give him some management class or [he will] just have to issue an apology. But I’m gonna fight so that he gets suspended or at least has to pay restitution.”
McIntosh added that there is currently a “no contact order” between the vandal and himself, prohibiting the two from interacting with each other.