Apparently, a dirtbag protester went out of their way to remove American flags from a 9/11 college memorial. What a joke!
Evidently, a student at Washington University threw a hissy fit and decided to make the unilateral decision to remove thousands of 9/11 memorial flags, piling them into garbage bags in a misguided protest against Islamophobia and U.S. military intervention.
An online video depicts the student holding multiple plastic bags that contained the small American flags that he had removed from the memorial at Mudd Field at this university which is located in St. Louis, Missouri.
The flags were 2,977 in number, which denotes one for each individual who perished in the 9/11 attacks twenty years on.
The university newspaper, Student Life, identified the dirtbag culprit as Fadel Alkilani, the vice president of finance for the student union.
Washington University officials said that they were totally “disappointed” over the dirtbag disruption to the 9/11 memorial, and they added the following statement: “We condemn the interference with the expression of support by the College Republicans for the victims of the national tragedy that took place 20 years ago today.”
None of the university officials clarified whether Alkilani was going to face any repercussions for his actions.
Of course, just like a typical young and idealistic liberal, Alkilani had to defend his actions, saying that he wanted to protest some of the Islamophobia and American military actions that occurred after the September 11th attacks.
“Any memorial of 9/11 that does not contend with these facts is not only incomplete, but it also amplifies pro-imperialist sentiment and actively disrespects those who have died because of the American Invasion,” Alkilani wrote in a Saturday night statement.
Alkilani actually wanted to go even further than this. He also wanted to stage an extra “protest” where he would put garbage bags on the campus field alongside several different statistics that explained the human cost of the attacks.
“On the sides of the bags, some writing may be visible, but the full statement was not outlined at the time of the video. I did not deface, destroy, damage, nor steal any flags, nor did I interfere with any registered event time. I assert that I did not violate any University Code of Conduct policy, though the conduct process is undergoing,” he added.
Other members of the student body are speaking out to condemn Alkilani’s actions and are calling for him to be expelled.
WU College Republicans president Nick Rodriguez told the student newspaper: “At a minimum, I believe he should be removed from both SU [student union] and his [resident adviser] position, as what does it say to be a top American institution, and have yourself represented by a student leader who has no respect for property, campus traditions or the remembrance of thousands of lost lives.”