This presidential campaign has been like no other before because of the wide use of social media, not only on the side of the candidates but also of their supporters. You can go on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat and see some post regarding the presidential race or one of the candidates. Today, unfortunately, things were taken too far.
It is not an unknown fact that I am not a fan of Donald Trump. I think he’s a savvy businessman who’s build a huge empire and clearly done well for himself but I don’t want him anywhere near the oval office. However, no one, and I mean NO ONE should ever be threatened in any way for their political beliefs/preferences, no matter how unpopular they are with the majority.
This image was tweeted out on 2/10/2016 (the account has since been suspended) and received over 16 thousand retweets. The student (identified as Clifford Durand) was met with severe backlash via twitter from Trump supporters and his only response was to jokingly pass it off as nothing because he never directly threatened to harm the girl (identified as Brianna Algazali), simply her laptop, which obviously didn’t make the situation any better.
Algazali confronted Durand who sent out the tweet and asked him to take the tweet to which he replied “make me”. This then led Algazali to throw the green tea beverage she was holding at Durand’s face who then responded to her with physical violence. Many people reported the incident to Public Safety, our campus security officers, who then took Druand to their offices. It is currently unknown what disciplinary action will be taken against him and if any repercussions will fall to Algazali for her part in the altercation but there has already been damage made to the school’s reputation. The New York Daily News has picked up the story and there have been various people speaking out against the university for not being a safe place of discussion for all students. There have been numerous potential incoming freshmen/parents of incoming freshmen who have tweeted out that this story has drastically changed their opinion of the university and will now decide against attending the university or keep their children from attending.
St. John’s only released the following statement via twitter regarding the altercation:“Thank you everyone who reported the incident to us. This type of behavior will not be tolerated. Public Safety is handling the situation
While it is always encouraged to engage in political discussions, there are much better ways to start a discussion than threatening another person’s property simply because you don’t agree with their political views. This situation should also serve as a lesson to never assume you know a person based on appearances because it has been revealed by the friends and sisters of Algazali, who is a member of Lambda Phi sorority, that she is not in fact a supporter of Donald Trump but simply got the sticker as a joke.
College should always be considered a safe place of discussion but it is just that, discussion not impulsive action that will not only reflect negatively on yourself but on the university you attend and on your peers.