BUZZ
Student is charged with malicious destruction of tombs and memorials
A Michigan Tech University student is facing a misdemeanor charge for allegedly stealing hundreds of flags from a conservative club’s Sept. 11 memorial earlier this month.
Avery Brynn Lawrence, 21, appeared in court Wednesday and pleaded not guilty to the charge of malicious destruction of tombs and memorials, a misdemeanor, MLive reports.
Lawrence allegedly stole 900 small American flags from a 9/11: Never Forget Project display on campus, just an hour after students with Michigan Tech Young Americans for Freedom set it up, according to the report.
The university’s Turning Point USA chapter, which also helped set up the display on Sept. 11, posted about the incident later that day on Instagram.
“Our members got up at 3 AM to be there and set it up, only for someone to come steal 900 of the flags that represented the 2,977 souls that were lost that tragic day, as well as the 6 signs within an hour of us finishing setup,” the chapter wrote. “We are deeply saddened by this act of defacement against a memorial for a tragedy and call on all to condemn such actions.”
Michigan Tech Young Americans for Freedom sets up the memorial annually on campus to remember the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the U.S., WLUC TV 6 reported earlier this month.
“In that attack, there were 2,977 American citizens who passed away, unfortunately. And we have 2,977 flags behind us, or they’re supposed to be,” club President Donald Chapman told the news station.
Chapman said the students spent about two hours setting up the display.
“About 7:30 a.m., I walked by the lawn. I noticed that all of our posters were missing… and when I took a closer look, I noticed there were tons and tons of flags missing,” he said.
Similar displays at universities across the country have been the targets of vandalism in the past.
The College Fix’s Cancel Culture Database documents others, including a student government official caught removing flags from a Sept. 11 memorial at Washington University in St. Louis in 2021 and, in 2024, U.S. and Israeli flags being vandalized at Northwestern University.
MORE: Conservative student group’s Trump flag stolen at Cal State-LA
