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A 9/11 memorial set up by students at a California State University campus was defaced with pro-Palestinian and pro-Antifa vandalism, prompting a police investigation.
Vandals destroyed about 30 of the 2,177 memorial flags set up on Stanislaus State’s “free speech lawn” to mark the 25th anniversary of 9/11, said Young Americans for Freedom chapter President Madeline Iwasyk.
“I was very distraught,” she told The College Fix in a telephone interview Saturday. “I felt disgusted by the fact that it was a memorial site, we did not have anything political up.”
The destroyed flags had “Free Palestine,” “Blow Back,” and “161” written on them in marker, the latter term referencing anti-fascist action linked to the broader Antifa movement.
Some flags were also uprooted, Iwasyk said, and a few additional makeshift signs had been added to the display stating “mourn every life” and “Do American lives matter more? Stop the wars.”
The memorial at the central California school had been set up Thursday evening to prepare for the Sept. 11 anniversary as part of Young America’s Foundation nationwide annual Never Forget Project.
By the time students arrived Friday morning, the damage was done, said Rob Tandy, a spokesman for YAF.
“The 9/11 project is meant to honor the victims and to teach people what happened on that day,” he told The College Fix in a telephone interview Saturday.
“It’s important, especially on a college campus, because most of the students on campus today were not alive on that day,” Tandy said.
A police report was filed and an investigation is underway, and there is video surveillance of the area, he said.
A statement provided Saturday by the university’s media relations department read: “The University Police Department at Stanislaus State received a report of the vandalism and is actively investigating the situation.”
Iwasyk said she founded the Young Americans for Freedom group at Stanislaus State only recently, and it has yet to obtain official recognized student organization status. However, she said, the lawn where the flags were set up is considered a campus free speech area.
Asked what she would say to those who argue the vandalism is also an example of free speech, she said destruction of property is not free speech, adding the flags cost $500.
Noting the lawn is large and spacious, she said she and her group would have no problem with a counter display.
“That’s the difference between liberals and conservatives,” Iwasyk said. “We would never think of going over and destroying their property.”
MORE: Vandals uproot students’ 9/11 flag memorial at Brandeis University
