(RepublicanNews.org) – A college student in North Carolina stood up to a mob of pro-Palestinian protesters on campus to protect the American flag, which he said they would’ve had to yank from his “dead body” in an interview following the incident.
Dan Stompel appeared on Fox News for an interview on Wednesday, May 1st, to talk about his experience defending an American flag alongside a group of friends from protesters who are angry over U.S. involvement in the Israel/Hamas war and have been demonstrating at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.
The flag had been flying half-mast following the death of four Charlotte police officers, and at one point it was replaced by protesters with the Palestinian flag before enraged students restored the American flag, an effort led by the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity. When protesters tried to remove it again on Tuesday, April 30th, Stompel and others stepped in to protect the flag, which was captured on video and quickly went viral on social media.
Stompel is a junior and a political science major. He was one of several students to stand up to the mob of protesters to prevent them from desecrating the U.S. flag. He and the other students guarded the flag and held onto it for more than an hour before police eventually cleared out the protesters and it was safely hoisted back onto the pole. Protesters threw rocks, bottles, water, and other objects at Stompel and his classmates while shouting at them and giving them the middle finger.
During his Fox interview, Stompel was puzzled by their behavior. He recalled how he and his friends covered for one another, looking out for flying objects. He jokingly called the event his “arm day” (referring to the gym), because the objects mostly struck their arms as they blocked their faces. Stompel said that although the experience “was exhausting,” it was also a “beautiful moment.”
Stompel said he would die for the flag, and told viewers not to “bend the knee to these people.”
The UNC College Republicans also took part in the event and said they were “disgusted and appalled” after the American flag was removed and replaced by the Palestinian flag. The club said the other students who stood up were “brave” and “saw their nation’s flag being disrespected,” which is why they “acted swiftly.”
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