White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre congratulated UNC Chapel Hill fraternity brothers who defended the American flag amid campus protests against the war in Gaza.
After the anti-Israeli demonstrators replaced the American flag on the grounds of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and with a Palestinian flag, the local chapter of Pi Kappa Phi defended the American flag for more than an hour until police were able to evacuate the demonstration and raise it safely on the flagpole. All the while, the fraternity brothers endured profanities and middle fingers from protesters, as well as water, bottles and rocks aimed at them.
Fox News White House reporter Peter Doocy asked Jean-Pierre about the incident Friday, noting that a GoFundMe had raised more than half a million dollars for the fraternity to stage a “rage.” or a wild party. Doocy asked if Biden would help donate like he has for other causes.
While Jean-Pierre said Americans have the right to peacefully protest, “it’s not fair to forcibly remove the American flag and replace it with another flag, it’s not fair, and I just wanted It’s clear.”
The White House press secretary spoke of the brotherhood that defended the American flag.
Doocy then asked if Biden would be interested in making a call to thank the fraternity.
“Look, protecting the American flag is admirable. I’ll leave it at that,” the White House press secretary said before continuing.
The GoFundMe page talked about the wave of protests on campuses across the country.
“Communist losers across the country have invaded college campuses to make stupid demands of weak university administrators,” the GoFundMe page states. “But in the midst of the chaos, the screaming, the anti-Semitism, the hatred of the faith and the flag, stood a platoon of American heroes… (who) protected Old Glory from the dirty Marxist horde.”
UNC Chapel Hill students wave the American flag during a protest on campus, Tuesday, April 30, 2024. Anti-Israel agitators replaced the American flag with the Palestinian one during the protest. (Parker Ali/The Daily Tar Heel)
UNC STUDENT WHO DEFENDED AMERICAN FLAG AGAINST CAMPUS MOB “HONORED TO GIVE BACK TO THE NATION”
Fox News spoke to several fraternity members who confronted protesters on that campus, including Dan Stompel, a political science student at UNC.
“Don’t kneel to these people. They want to take over. They just want to destroy what this country stands for, to shove their own twisted ideology into every orifice of this country. And don’t let them do that.” Stompel said Fox News Digital. “If it really took 30 guys to arrest thousands of people because we’re taking a stand, because we’re not letting this go… If you sincerely believe in something, no other vapid person on an issue can question you .”
Fox News’ Hannah Grossman contributed to this report.
