Speaking to Fox News Channel, a female student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who helped defend the American flag from pro-Palestine protesters who wanted to tear it down. That student’s first name is Hailey, with her last name being withheld to protect her, Fox News Digital reports. She and the fraternity men with her were pelted with objects, including rocks, as they defended Old Glory.
As background, the flag that the college kids defended was at half-mast in honor of the four officers killed in Charlotte in the line of duty. Then, on Tuesday, April 30, a pro-Palestine, anti-Israel mob marched the UNC-Chapel Hill quad to tear it down and replace it with a Palestinian flag. The university soon replaced the American flag, which is when the Pi Kappa Phi men, and a few other students including Hailey, enraged that the flag was ever torn down to begin with, stepped in to defend it.
Describing watching the first incident in which the American flag was torn down and replaced with the Palestinian flag, Hailey said, “I definitely was emotionally a little bit shaken.” She continued, “I was like, I cannot believe my eyes that we as a country are at a place where the American flag is being replaced by the Palestinian flag. I was just in shock.”
Before the American flag was replaced, Halley and another student stood with an American flag so that one would always be flying at the campus. Describing that part of the shocking incident, she said, “I stood… holding an American flag as they were taking it down. It was the most shocking thing I think I have ever seen in my life.”
Continuing, she explained, “I just felt so patriotic. I felt so proud of my country and proud of the Americans who are standing beside me, who are holding the flag with me, who are willing to stand out and protect it. And like, I would give my life to protect that flag. I would give my life to protect America in a heartbeat. And. I was willing to do that that day.”
She then described being pelted with objects, including rocks and sticks, with one of the individuals involved being hit in the face and receiving a gash under his eye. Hailey, describing that, said, “I definitely had projectiles thrown at me many times. There were water bottles flying everywhere. I think they were like chicken broth balloons. People would smell like chicken broth for a long time… I know a couple of kids had rocks and sticks thrown at them. One of my friends got hit with a water bottle and had, like, a gash under his eye.”
Describing the impact of the incident on campus and her studies, Hailey said, “It’s been really hard to study for finals, really hard to focus and concentrate. I definitely acknowledge people’s right to have free speech, and I think that people should be able to protest. However, the fact that they are really disrupting normal university operations is the problem. And it’s really it’s been a disruption to my learning experience here.”
Watch her here:
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video
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