Hate Speech Fills Bloomsburg University
Speak of “fa**ots should hang,” racial slurs against African American students, misogynistic statements like “Women belong in the kitchen,” and attacks on Jewish people filled the Bloomsburg University Quad yesterday.
The front of the Student Services Center was taped off for the demonstrators, with police and security for crowd control. The three demonstrators were met with dozens of counter-protesters. The protestors reciprocated the hate speech with cries of love and inclusion, with some profanity towards the speaker. Many of the protestors were draped in LGBTQIA+ flags. The protestors brought speakers to drown out the speech.
The organizers of the hate-filled speech were the Key of David Christian Center based out of Philadelphia. The group is known to tour college campuses and draw a reaction from the students with profanity. The Christian Center is led by Evangelist Fundamentalist Pastor Aden Rusfeldt. The group is explicitly against Catholics, Muslims, Protestants, Judaism, and Feminism.
Bloomsburg Police drew heat from the students as officers shook hands and smiled with the Pastor before the event started.
We reached out to Bloomsburg University for comment about the event yesterday. “The demonstration on Tuesday was by an outside group not affiliated with Commonwealth University. This type of demonstration is classified as a “freedom of speech activity” and protected as such since Commonwealth University is a public institution and therefore is public property. As a public institution, our campus is open to individuals and groups who hold various beliefs. Free and open discourse is a hallmark of a comprehensive educational experience. The opinions and views of the group which was on campus yesterday do not align with our institutional values of diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
