East Tennessee State University campus police arrested a White student on Wednesday and charged him with civil rights intimidation for wearing a gorilla mask and taunting Black Lives Matter protesters with bananas, the New York Daily News reports.
WCYB-TV said freshman Tristan Rettke told the police that he learned about the demonstration on the app Yik Yak and tried “to provoke the protesters.”
https://twitter.com/OfficialFGTNews/status/781495791307239424
The students had gathered on campus to protest fatal police shootings of unarmed Black men in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Tulsa, Oklahoma.
School officials told WJHL-TV that Rettke is now on interim suspension. They also met with students on campus for a dialogue. In a statement, administrators denounced Rettke’s actions, saying it was contrary to the university’s values.
SOURCE: NY Daily News, WCYB-TV, WJHL-TV | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty, Twitter
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