Monday, September 18, 2017 a religious hate group congregated outside of Towers patio facing Fifth Avenue. About eight protestors toted signs reading “women belong in the kitchen,” “homos go to hell,” “repent homo” and “feminists are whores.” They held other signs that were islamophobic and racist as well. However, what got them the most attention were their words. They heckled female students for wearing clothes they deemed “inappropriate” while the students walked to class.
However, the hate group wasn’t alone for long. Soon students began verbally retaliating against the slurs being shouted at them. A crowd of counter-protestors quickly grew, as a group of students carrying pride flags bombarded the protestors. Pedestrians joined in until the counter-protestors grew to over 100 in numbers.
The counter-protestors didn’t waste any time shutting down the hate group. The students began chanting over the protestors “God loves everyone” and “Love trumps hate.” Some students stuck out their middle fingers, and one student was seen blowing into a trumpet to drown out the hate group. Two girls even kissed in front of the extremists as the students erupted into cheers.
While the hate group was small in numbers, two elementary-aged children were with them, one holding up a sign that read “Are you absolutely sure there is no absolute truth?” Some students questioned the police officers on scene about truancy, while other people chanted “Send your kids to school.”
The student counter-protest remained peaceful, but the police did intervene a few times to clear the sidewalk for pedestrians. Later they ended up booting the religious hate group off campus because non-university students are not allowed to protest on campus property. One person from the hate group was arrested for defiant trespass. Allegedly these extremist protestors have been spotted at other local campuses.