A college student at Fordham University in New York was punished and forced to undergo “political reeducation” this summer for two Instagram posts – one of which depicted the student holding an AR-15.
Austin Tong is a rising senior at Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business, and he accused the school of “Soviet-style interrogation and punishment.”
“I am no longer permitted on campus, with public safety coming to my home at midnight to question me on the day of the post, and face forced political reeducation through mandatory courses and to write an apology letter, or will face full suspension or expulsion – is this happening in America, or is this a Soviet nightmare?” he asked in a letter to the school.
The Instagram post in question depicts Tong holding a Smith & Wesson M&P AR-15 and standing in his back yard.
The caption reads “Don’t tread on me. #198964,” which is a reference to both the Gadsden flag and the Tienanmen Square massacre. Tong is from a Chinese immigrant family, and he says the post was intended to express appreciation for his Second Amendment rights.
“To everyone and @fordhamuniversity: this post or my mentality is SOLELY for the memory of the thousands of armless students who had no method of defense and were massacred in 6.4.1989, and in no way advocating violence to anyone,” Tong said in a follow-up comment.
“This post is my appreciation toward the United States and the privilege in this country to have the right to bear arms, to have a populace that can defend itself from tyranny. Tiananmen Incident is a huge deal in my motherland and to my ethnicity, and so is civil rights in America, but this post is solely my belief that freedom comes from a strong and armed populace.
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Replies
WE MUST STOP THIS NOW.
WE CANNOT LET OR ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN TO US OR ANYONE. TIME TO FIGHT BACK.
THE USA IS AT STAKE AND OUR WAY OF LIFE. THE BLUE STATES ARE USING THEIR MARXIST TACTICS AND FEAR TO KEEP US IN CONTROL WE HAVE TO GET OUT AND RESIST