A radical political organization has been publishing recruitment and disinformation documents about the 2020 elections on the University of Louisville campus for weeks, alarming academics and provoking research through university officials.
The posters and decals, shared through the academics of the U of L in the photos, come with the logos and language of the white supremacist organization Patriot Front. They come with words like “Keep America American” and “Better Dead than Red. “
In an email to academics sent on January 15 and received through the Courier Journal, V. Faye Jones, the school’s senior associate vice president for diversity and equity, said the incidents also come with “vandalism and hostile interactions aimed at other people of color”stealing a banner of LGBTQ pride from the Faculty of Business.
The police branch of L’s U is investigating the email.
“There’s nothing to update,” University of Washington spokesman John Karman said, reacting to questions about the prestige of research.
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The Patriot Front, designated as a hate organization through the Southern Poverty Law Center, founded in Texas in 2017 after the fatal Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The Anti-Defamation League says it is a “white supremacist organization whose members claim that their ancestors conquered America and bequeathed it only to them” and that it “marries racism, anti-Semitism and intolerance on the pretext of preserving “ethnic and cultural origins. “of their European ancestors. “
Meera Sahney, a graduate student in political science, said she was “really hurt” after seeing one of the symptoms for the first time in January.
“I was very horrified by words like ‘Keep America American’ . . . It’s pretty obvious that this organization is looking to send a message,” he said.
Sahney shared a photo of the poster, which encouraged others to call the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service about “illegal aliens” on his Instagram and posted it at the school’s diversity and inclusion center.
He listened temporarily and took off his sign.
“I am pleased to see a response, to see them take quick action regarding this incident,” he said. “But I think there are a lot of paintings to be done to keep this kind of scenario from happening. “
Young Democrats and Republicans at U de L issued a joint statement condemning social media incidents.
“White nationalists oppose the same principles on which our country was founded,” it reads. “Our organizations absolutely reject an ideology that seeks our country’s department above race and hatred, and in this time of uncertainty and political turmoil, organizations will have to reject ideologies that seek to divide the wonderful peoples of this country. “
Young Democrats President Ariana Velasquez said she first heard about incidents when members of her organization began sharing photos of posters and stickers in an organization message. .
Velasquez said she “never felt that (she) was not welcome as an Asian or Hispanic student” at the University of London and believes the school is “doing everything it can” in the face of the Patriot Front situation.
However, the political science student said she was involved in the organization being comfortable publishing her documents on campus.
“I think in the future, the University of Louisville and other schools that have recently had disorders will have to look for tactics to make those teams feel totally uncomfortable on campus,” he said.
The L U scenario is the only example of Patriot Front documents appearing on kentucky and country college campuses in recent weeks.
Officials at the University of Northern Kentucky are investigating the Patriot Front graffiti left on their campus last January, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported. College, home of Penn State University.
A reporter for the nonprofit ProPublica shared a video of members of the Patriot Front marching in Washington, D. C. , on January 29, a few weeks after a fatal insurgency in the U. S. Capitol that featured members of various hate groups.
Contact journalist Mary Ramsey at mramsey@gannett. com and stay with her on Twitter: mcolleen1996. Support local journalism on our network by joining the Courier Journal today.