'Antifa' vandalizes posters, replaces with 'threatening' imagery involving Trump voter
The group has linked the act to a post by a Reddit user who has expressed support for Antifa.
A conservative campus group shared images of vandalized flyers and a poster of a Trump voter being held at knifepoint.
A conservative student group at an Illinois college says a student worker “who identified herself as an Antifa member...is responsible for” vandalizing posters promoting the group’s upcoming events.
”Our posters promoted a speech by former Antifa member turned conservative commentator, Gabriel Nadales, and a speaking event/dinner by Turning Point USA’s Founder and President, Charlie Kirk, in Crystal Lake, Illinois hosted by the McHenry County Republican Party,” the McHenry County College Turning Point USA chapter shared in a recent Facebook post.
Nadales is an employee of Campus Reform’s parent organization the Leadership Institute and the school’s Turning Point USA chapter president, Alec Stone, is a Campus Reform Correspondent.
The group shared an image of a poster it says the alleged offender hung on the wall in place of the Turning Point poster, which depicted a Trump supporter being held at knifepoint, along with a caption that read, “We beat ‘em before...We’ll beat em again.” Another image shared by the conservative group showed its social media promotions on the posters crossed out, and “I love penis” stickers covering the group’s logo.
A Reddit page called “Antifas of Reddit” contained an image of one vandalized poster, along with the caption, “this is how we deal with the ‘alt-lite’ on our campuses in Illinois,” according to images shared by TPUSA, which have since been deleted from Reddit.
[EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Student caught on video throwing away conservative group’s signs]
Campus Reform could not independently confirm that the individual who vandalized the posters is the same person who posted on Reddit.
According to another Reddit post shared by TPUSA, a user writes “one of my coworkers noticed the posters I put up, not knowing who posted them, and told someone in the office across the hall from ours.” The same post adds that the coworker “contacts campus police, demands they find footage of me messing with the posters...and demanding that this person (me) be ‘apprehended.’”
The same user who initially shared the photo of the vandalized poster also posted on the sub-Reddit “legal advice,” “put up political posters on campus, staff threatens to charge with vandalism.”
“So I uh... went around campus, took down their event posters, and put up opposing political posters of my own,” a Reddit post shared by TPUSA reads. “How deep am I in here?... What are the chances they [charge me]?... What are my options if they do,” acknowledging that it “wasnt a smart move.”
“[Turning Point has] a big “ex-antifa” speaker coming on campus to talk about “why antifa is bad” I printed out some basic posters/info pamphlets from crimethinc and threw them around. My next plan is to photo copy their own posters and change the times and dates so no one can show up to their events,” one Reddit post from the same user reads, along with a poster that says “Antifascism is self-defense.”
[RELATED: Police investigate ‘repeated acts of vandalism’ against conservative student group]
The Turning Point chapter says it has reached out to law enforcement about the vandalism.
“We rightfully contacted campus police & alerted them of the misconduct pursued by this offender. We provided campus police the threatening poster that was displayed by this Antifa activist & provided them evidence that was forwarded to us.”
[CAUGHT ON VIDEO: Hidden cameras show vandalism of conservative signs]
In a conversation with Campus Reform, chapter officer Savannah Dudzik, expressed her disappointment with the recent events.
“I’m sad it had to come to this… The person who did this was present at our group’s first meeting and we acknowledged that they are welcome and encouraged to come. I’m sad they didn’t take that.”
Alec Stone, the chapter president, further explained what took place.
“Throughout our first meeting she said she wanted to learn more about [TPUSA] as a whole, but that ended up being a lie… They had the intentions of coming to our meeting to derail our meeting,” he said in a phone call with Campus Reform.
Nadales told Campus Reform in reaction to the story, “any one who self-identifies themselves as an Antifa member has no business working for a school, especially if they use their position to harass the students they are supposed to serve.”
”This is not the first time we have seen Antifa members disrupt the free speech rights of conservative students and it won’t be the last until college administrators take Antifa as a serious problem to the safety of their students,” Nadales added.
Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @Addison_Smith49
