UNC Interim Chancellor Lee Roberts was praised by conservatives on social media on Tuesday for removing a Palestinian flag that anti-Israel protesters had flown on campus and replacing it with an American flag.
“This university doesn’t belong to a small group of protesters. It belongs to every citizen of the state of North Carolina. Every person in North Carolina, every person who attends schools here, Everyone who lives and works in the United States. The flag represents all of us. It’s about taking down that flag and raising another flag, no matter what it is, because it represents who we are. Or it goes against what this university stands for,” Professor Roberts told reporters after restoring the American flag.
“The majority of people on this campus know how to express their opinions without violating university policy,” he continued. “As long as I’m prime minister, that flag will stand here.”
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UNC Interim Chancellor Lee Roberts was praised on social media Tuesday for removing a Palestinian flag that anti-Israel protesters had flown on campus and replacing it with an American flag. (Fox News)
Mr Roberts then claimed he would protect students from “a small minority of students who seek to disrupt their experience”.
North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson posted a video on social media praising Roberts.
“I don’t know how many of you saw this, but today we had a very disturbing incident on top of the disturbing incidents we’ve seen with these protests across the country and across the state. “In Chapel Hill, North Carolina, student demonstrators actually took down the American flag and raised the Palestinian flag,” Robinson said.
“The good news is this: Law enforcement officials, along with interim Prime Minister Lee Roberts, came out to take down the Palestinian flag and put the American flag back where it belongs,” he added. “They sent a strong message that that won’t be tolerated on that campus, and I hope that strong message continues.”
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Anti-Israel demonstrators replaced the American flag with the Palestinian flag during a demonstration on the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill campus on Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (Heather Deal/Daily Tar Heel)
The student newspaper, the Daily Tar Heel, reported that police used pepper spray to disperse the crowd after protesters raised a Palestinian flag from the UNC flagpole at Polk Place.
As he personally restored the American flag with his police allies, students chanted, “Lee Roberts, you can’t hide. You’re funding genocide,” the Daily Tar Heel reported. It is said that
As the flag was restored, counter-protesters could be heard chanting “USA, USA”. Counter-protesters then hugged Roberts.
Rep. Destin Hall responded, “Provost Lee Roberts gave a master class on leadership today, and university administrators across the country should follow his example.”
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The American flag is surrounded by a temporary fence at Polk Place at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, on May 1, 2024. ((Photo by Sean Rayford/Getty Images))
“It’s time to take the ‘interim’ out of the title and give the job to Lee Roberts,” one person wrote in response to the viral video.
The self-proclaimed citizen journalist added, “Despite my disdain for the Tarheels and UNC-Chapel Hill, I have to salute Premier Lee Roberts. He punked the anti-American protesters.” .
FOX News host Pete Hegseth also joined “FOX & Friends” to discuss this moment.
“We should take to heart and remember that the majority of today’s young people respect and love this country, which is probably reflective of the majority on the UNC campus. But , our conversation is a very loud, very powerful, very influential minority that simply hates the country,” Hegseth said.
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Fox News Digital’s Danielle Wallace and Hanna Panreck contributed to this report.
