Religious and political demonstrators took to the UNC Asheville campus on Thursday, sparking frustration among many uninvolved students.
“That group has been here a lot of times before. I literally see them all the time. We just haven’t yet this semester because of the hurricane,” said Lee Carter, a Lenoir resident and employee at the Highsmith Student Union who witnessed the event.
Carter said the protesters were right in front of the student union within the designated free speech area, Reed Plaza. She said the demonstrators protested conservative religious beliefs and political opinions.
“What really messes with me is they have the kids hold up the sign and pass out the flyers, and these flyers are graphic as hell,” the Lenoir resident said.
According to Carter, the protest sparked tension, with many in the campus community expressing discontent and thinks the protest was related to the most recent United States presidential election.
“I think it’s annoying. I think it’s 11:36 a.m. on a Thursday, and people are trying to go to class. They are just sitting there, saying really hateful and hurtful things, and I don’t think there’s a point to it. It’s the same old stuff all over again,” said Kiersten Lankford, a senior at UNC Asheville studying psychology.
Lankford said although Reed Plaza is a free speech area, most students feel like the protesters shouldn’t be yelling and having hate speech on posters.
“We are here to preach the gospel of Jesus, to try and stir people up about what is the truth of Jesus Christ,” said Coleman Boyd, the lead demonstrator from Bolton, Mississippi.
Boyd said he and his group of other non-denominational churches traveled all the way from North Hinds Church in Mississippi. He said they look forward to coming up to Asheville every year to travel and preach to different campus communities.
“The main question is, ‘Are you trusted in Jesus?’ It doesn’t matter what line of denomination you are. Are you truly trusted in Jesus? He says if you do not drop everything and all he has, (you) cannot be my disciple. We have to forsake everything we have to follow him,” Boyd said.
Carter said in the middle of the demonstration, a UNC Asheville business student, Matthew Zimmerman, started getting really riled up. She said Zimmerman, 35, wouldn’t stay behind the table barrier made and lunged for a protester’s sign, trying to rip the poster out of a protester’s hands but was unsuccessful.
“Campus police ended up getting him by the back of his hoodie. He gets away for a second, is absolutely sprinting down the sidewalk, and then one of the cops jumps on him, and the student gets handcuffed. I saw that they did let him go, after (being) handcuffed too, and he went about his way,” Carter said.
Zimmerman said his knee is still sore, and he has prior injuries to it from before he was tackled by one of the campus police officers.
“They perceived me as trying to put hands on the anti-LGBT folks,” Zimmerman said.
After the event, Carter said she went to work at the Highsmith Guest Service Desk, where she received calls from parents asking about additional security measures for students’ safety.
“Parents were saying things like, ‘I don’t want these people on my kid’s campus, and I’m worried for their safety.’ Most of them were asking specifically to speak to the chancellor,” Carter said. “I’m sure that was a result of that email getting sent out.”
Chancellor Kimberly Van Noort released a statement that afternoon to students and parents regarding the demonstration.
“The new rule for demonstrating since the Gaza protests this past year is you have to get a permit at UNCA,” Zimmerman said.
Carter said in the chancellor’s statement, the main viewpoint she took away was related to how the institution believes in freedom of expression and free speech above all else.
“I can’t believe what the email said because the email was talking about how they didn’t get kicked out for their beliefs, they got kicked out because they didn’t give us 24 hours notice,” Carter said, “even though they were hanging out those horribly graphic flyers and said that we only kicked them out because of the event policy.”
Zimmerman said the university did not press charges, but he might face possible disciplinary action.
“I just hope the message that LGBT people are valid in their identity, and are valued and protected at their campus, is the focus,” Zimmerman said.
