Posted on 09/13/2013 1:47:08 PM PDT by pabianice
Two of five unidentified protestors uproot flags dedicated to the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks in a midday protest. (middbeat/Rachel Kogan)
A 2,977 flag memorial was ripped out of the ground in front of Mead Memorial Chapel shortly before 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 11 by a group of five protestors claiming that the flags were on top of a sacred Abenaki burial site.
The flags — meant to commemorate each of the 2,977 lives taken in the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks — have been posted in the grass between Mead Chapel and the Davis Family Library annually in a joint effort between the College Republicans and Democrats for nearly 10 years.
Ben Kinney ’15, president of the College Republicans, spent two hours putting the flags outside of Mead Chapel on Tuesday night, and happened to be walking up the hill towards the chapel when he saw four females and one male stuffing the miniature flags into black trash bags.
“I got there just as they were taking the very last of them out of the ground and putting them in piles,” he said. “At first, I the group was comprised of College Democrats helping put the flags away before the rain rolled in, but then I realized what they were doing.”
Kinney said the protestors told him they were “confiscating” the flags in protest of “America’s imperialism.”
Julia Madden ’14, was walking back from Proctor when she saw the five people uprooting the flags.
“I was just getting out of class, but when I saw what they were doing I decided to say something,” she said. “They were quickly putting them into two big plastic trash bags. I’m mad at myself for not being more aggressive. I was just dumbfounded.”
There was no discussion. No compromise. We asked if we could put them somewhere else, but they wouldn’t listen.”
Sasha Schell ’15 also walked by the protest.
“I was thinking to myself ‘why are people cleaning them up now and why are they doing it in such a hurried and haphazard manner?’ I went up and asked them what they were doing. They said ‘this is an Indian burial ground and you can’t have anything penetrating the earth.’”
“It is really disrespectful to our community. It is disrespectful to the firefighters who went into the towers to save people. Most of all, it is disrespectful to anybody who lost somebody on that day,” he said. “It was completely out of line for anybody to come remove those flags. This is a travesty.”
Kinney, who said he received permission to erect the memorial from Associate Dean of Students for Student Activities & Orientation JJ Boggs, said he had never seen protests against the yearly memorial during his time at the College.
“You can’t say that one death is more legitimate to commemorate than another,” he said.
They weren't even students, at least not on that campus.
They are the same as common vandals.
Anna Shireman-Grabowski. Her next project needs to be to tear up the concrete sidewalks, since they pierce the “burial ground,” and haul them away. I believe there are fence post and light poles that do the same, so she needs to remove them, too.
I stand in full solidarity of her when she begins the sidewalk/post/pole removal project, which I hope is very soon, since I can’t wait to see her try it. ;-)
/s just in case
On Quinn&Rose this morning, it was reported that only one of the five “protestors” was a student there. The rest were outside agitators.
Pepperdine University on the Pacific Coast Highway, CA, has the most beautiful display of flags, as they’ve had for years now, commemorating 9-11.
The display may be up until Sunday - don’t know for sure.
Because the campus is on a gorgeous piece of real estate - a huge hill - the flags are super impressive.
On our way to a play rehearsal in Pacific Palisades, my granddaughter and I first saw the flag holders planted, and the next time we passed by, the flags were there.
That day there was a breeze, so the hundreds of large waving flags was breathtaking.
Last night there was no breeze at all, and the stillness of hundreds of lighted flags was calm and peaceful - like a silent prayer.
Some may like to make a note to stop by Pepperdine this time next year. Day or night.
R E M E M B E R
9-11
“You got to ask yourself one question....do I feel lucky? Well do you...punk?!!”
The young can be remarkably clueless.
If this was a memorial for blacks who died in slavery, the students involved would have been arrested and face academic expulsion.
If this was a memorial for those Syrians who were gassed by their own rebel troops, the students involved would have been arrested and face academic expulsion.
I’m just curious, at what point does mainstream America get the same rights as ‘minorities’?
So is it really an Indian burial ground? If not, that’s just more reason to arrest and prosecute the thieves. Where was campus security, or is this college a liberal one where liberals have freedom to do as they wish but conservatives are questioned on everything?
Of course not. Notice the sidewalk and the trees "penetrating the ground". It was just an excuse to be as unAmerican as a communist agitator can be.
I have to wonder if (ex)Prof. Ward Churchill has his grubby fingers in this. Also, as I look at the photo, I see a perfect place to put my boot.
What? This isn’t going to “foster a discussion”?
the scumbags should have some teeth uprooted from their mouth...
If she is “standing on principles” (no pun intended, ha), she needs to dismantle that campus bit by bit, and also every Libby Millionaire/Billionaire’s country manors up in Vermont. Perhaps Ben and Jerry’s place?
I'd volunteer to help rip that down.
Sounds like a bunch of false flags
Ooh, yes, I do see a couple light posts and a trash can in the pic! Those usually have a metal stake piercing the ground to chain them to. Go get em, Anna Shitewoman-Grabowski.
I attended a very liberal, quasi-Ivy League college back in the 1970s. If anyone had attempted to do what these little fools did, they would have had the living shit kicked out of them - and that would have been that. Even our campus radicals didn’t hate America so much that they’d willingly destroy a memorial to innocents murdered by terrorists.
...by Chuck Norris.
I would love to send a 7.62 NATO round right square into that little commie butt!
...the protestors told him they were "confiscating" the flags in protest of "America's imperialism."What are their FR nicks?
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