Free Republic

Students at East Tennessee State University and others gathered to march in protest of Kyle Rittenhouse on Thursday evening. The protest came just a few hours before the controversial figure spoke at the Brinkley Center for a Turning Point USA event, which is a student-led group on campus. In 2020, a then 17-year-old Rittenhouse shot and killed two men during civil unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin. In 2021, Rittenhouse was acquitted of homicide and other charges on the grounds of self-defense. When they announced they were bringing Rittenhouse to ETSU, a Turning Point representative said Rittenhouse would speak about the importance...

A Tennessee man wore a gorilla mask, carried a rope and tried to hand out bananas at a college Black Lives Matter protest Wednesday, police said. East Tennessee State University campus police arrested freshman student Tristan Rettke, who is white, on a charge of civil rights intimidation following the disruption, the Johnson City Press reported. University officials condemned his act and scheduled a community discussion. A video published by the newspaper showed the man later identified as Rettke wearing overalls and also holding a burlap sack with a marijuana leaf and Confederate flag on it. He dangled a banana with...

An “empty holster” demonstration to promote campus firearm possession is getting a second look from East Tennessee State University administrators after they initially warned a student club that participation could result in discipline. “I was real happy to hear that they’re reconsidering that,” Jay Adkins, a vice president in ETSU’s Marksmanship Club, said Monday. “I was surprised at the reaction that I got, because right off the bat, it was a reaction of, ‘No, this can’t be done. It’s inappropriate.’” Club members had approached administrators about their intentions to don empty holsters for a national event organized by Students for...