UNC student who defended American flag from campus mob 'honored to give back to the nation'
A University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill student felt "honored to give back to the nation" while defending an American flag on the quad that protesters were trying to take down on Tuesday.
"Yesterday, my fraternity brother [Guillermo Estrada] and I were photographed holding up the American flag in the Quad of UNC-Chapel Hill during the protests. Since then, these images have spread, receiving media coverage nationwide," Chapel Hill student Alex Jones said in a Wednesday post on X. "Both myself, my fraternity brother, and the others who protected the flag with us have received many messages of support. For this, I am truly humbled."
Anti-Israel agitators on Tuesday morning initially replaced the American flag — which had been flying at half-mast after four Charlotte officers were killed in the line of duty Monday — with a Palestinian flag before UNC Chancellor Lee Roberts stepped in with law enforcement officers to return the American flag.
When activists, some of whom were not affiliated with Chapel Hill, tried to take the flag down a second time, a group of students, including fraternity brothers, stepped in to stop Old Glory from hitting the ground. A photo of the moment went vial on social media.
"For me, protecting the flag was not about taking a stance within the ongoing Israel-Palestine discourse," Jones explained. "I recognize the pain and suffering experienced by both sides of that conflict. But my decision yesterday to protect the flag of the United States was not about any other nation. It was simply about the importance of our country and the values we believe in."
He added that he believes "in the right to free speech and peaceful protest" and is "honored to give back to the nation that has given me and my family countless opportunities."
"I owe everything to the hard work of my parents and this great nation, and I am proud to be among those who stood up for it yesterday. I am proud to be an American," Jones wrote.
Since the photo of the students holding up the flag garnered tens of thousands of likes this week — and positive responses from politicians and celebrities alike — a GoFundMe created by a third party for Pi Kappa Sigma's Chapel Hill chapter has raised more than $400,000 "to throw this frat the party they deserve."
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The fraternity told Fox News Digital it is still trying to figure out whether they have access to the funds, since they did not create the GoFundMe themselves. Once and if they do, the fraternity will determine how best to use the funds.
A barricade has since been established around the flagpole.
Chancellor Roberts told WRAL in a live broadcast of the Tuesday protests, "That flag will stay there as long as I am chancellor," as The Carolina Journal first reported.
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"Tell students that we will keep them safe from a small minority of students who want to disrupt their experience. This university is for everybody," he said.
The university on Tuesday confirmed that approximately 30 protesters were detained after they allegedly refused to leave an encampment on the quad despite receiving a statement from university administrators telling them to clear the site by 6 a.m. or face expulsion.
At 6 a.m., UNC Police "calmly approached the group and detained approximately 30 people who refused to leave. During that time, the protesters attempted to block the UNC Police vehicles by standing in front of them and throwing items at officers. Polk Place was cleared in approximately 45 minutes. Afterward, UNC Facilities cleared the area of significant debris," the university said in a statement.
"After the area was cleared, the remaining protesters escalated their tactics, attempting to forcibly enter South Building by pushing officers and refusing to comply with requests from Facilities and UNC Police," the university continued.
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"For the last several months, we have spoken regularly and respectfully with the demonstrators on our campus, consistently supporting their right to assemble and express their views. We have also clearly communicated the University's long-standing policies on the use of shared public spaces. We have been clear that students and community members can assemble and make their voices heard, but University policies must be followed," Roberts and Provost Chris Clemens said in their statement.
Chapel Hill's school-wide alert system, Alert Carolina, issued a "critical" advisory on Tuesday notifying students that classes and non-mandatory activities were canceled in the afternoon.
Fox News' Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.