College Republicans Set Up Memorial To Border Patrol Agents

Wednesday, 30 March 2011 18:10

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If you walked along the mock-border wall during Immigration Week last week, you would have seen that most of the exhibits were very anti-wall. Most took a pro-immigration status––one even questioned how large, migratory animals could survive with their habitat divided––but the consensus was pretty clear: tear down the wall. Late Tuesday night, however, another exhibit was put up.

The College Republicans wanted to make an exhibit memorializing all those from Border Patrol who had fallen in the line of duty.

“We were really taken aback that the whole wall was put up, especially since it was school-sponsored, and we kind of wanted to just set up a memorial and a tribute to those who lost their lives in border patrol and are still serving to protect the borders right now,” said Jordan Selmanson, a spokesperson for the group.

Response to the memorial was very mixed. Some stopped by and applauded the group for standing by an alternative viewpoint, but many protested the memorial. One even hung around with a prop-pig nose and a sign that said “Racist.”

College Republicans claimed their group wasn’t provocative at all though, and that it was just a memorial for those that died.

“[The idea] wasn’t to be contrarian, because we could have made it very controversial, instead of just putting up flags in honor of those who lost their lives protecting the borders. We just wanted to make it not really partisan or even bipartisan, but to set up a nonpartisan exhibit,” Selmanson said.

The exhibit, however, had to be taken down. The College Republicans were initially told that someone had to be outside with it 24 hours a day, which they did. Then they were told it would interfere with another event––“but the wall didn’t?” said Selmanson––but nobody was told specifics, at least not to Selmanson’s knowledge.

No More Deaths, who set up the wall, was called to give a statement on the College Republicans’ exhibit, but their press team has yet to return any calls.

Video by Dave McErlean

Written by Kevin Cottingham, Video By Dave McErlean You are reading College Republicans Set Up Memorial To Border Patrol Agents articles

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