ST. LOUIS (Talk1370.com/NewsRadio 1120 KMOX) -- Some are calling for a Washington University student to be expelled after he removed thousands of American flags from a display on the St. Louis-area campus ahead of the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.
Washington University's College Republicans lined a field on the campus with 2,977 flags Friday night to represent each of the victims of the attacks. Later, another student identified as Fadel Alkiliani can be seen putting the flags into trash bags and carrying them away.
University chancellor Andrew Martin called the incident "reprehensible," saying "the removal of the flags impeded the ability of individuals to commemorate the lives lost on 9/11 and to process the trauma of that day.”
A statement from Alkilani, who is the Student Union's Vice President of Finance, says he took the flags down because "those who died during 9/11 deserve better than to be used as a political tool by those who seek to excuse American imperialism and Islamophobia.” He said he wrote on the sides of the trash bags full of flags some statistics "explaining the human cost of 9/11."
"I did not deface, destroy, damage, nor steal any flags, nor did I interfere with any registered event time. I assert that I did not violate any University Code of Conduct policy, though the conduct process is undergoing," he stated.
The university's latest social media posts have become a haven for Islamophobic hatred and threats towards Alkilani and his family.
Some are calling for Alkilani to be expelled from the school. Martin's statement did not name Alkilani by name.
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