David Duke, a former KKK Grand Wizard and huge supporter of Donald Trump participated in a heavily scrutinized Senate debate with five other candidates Wednesday night at Dillard University. The New Orleans HBCU soon became the site of a student-organized protest.
Before the event began, organizers made a last minute decision to make the debate private, essentially shutting out all students, media, and the general public from attending. Duke, State Treasurer John Kennedy, U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany, U.S. Rep. John Fleming, Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell, and attorney Caroline Fayard all appeared before an empty auditorium.
The ban didn’t stop students and alumni from taking matters into their own hands.
The Socially Engaged Dillard University Student Group shared their disdain for Duke, in a letter sent to University administrators days before the event.
“Everything David Duke promotes is an anathema to us, a Historically Black College & University,” the letter stated. “Instead of denying the presence of this terrorist onto our campus, our school’s president has assured his safety by Dillard University armed police, against us, the Dillard University student body.”
Despite calls to cancel the event, the University continued with intended plans to host the debate issuing a statement last month stating that it did not endorse Duke and was only renting out the space after a request was made by WVUE.
Students took to the streets outside of the auditorium, posting photos of the protest to Twitter.
The calm before the storm. Photographs by me. #DillardProtest pic.twitter.com/y3V0wKmFyJ
— Katee 🍟🍩 (@kaelin__) November 3, 2016
Campus leaders and students spoke to the crowd sharing what this was about.
#DillardProtest #dillarduniversity #WhatWeStandFor ✊🏾✊🏾 #DU20 #DU19 #DU18 #DU17 pic.twitter.com/yvG9KTS5Pn
— Tyson (@T_mannn07) November 3, 2016
The protest began to become chaotic as students were pepper sprayed as some tried to force entry into the debate.
I can taste the pepper spray. Protestors and police clash at #Dillard #senatedebate pic.twitter.com/KLRtiacWGq
— Nick Reimann (@nicksreimann) November 3, 2016
David Duke was safely escorted by police officers off the premises.
The city issued this response:
“There have been multiple reports on police actions taken during protests at tonight’s Senate debate. The NOPD assisted Dillard Police with crowd control. NOPD officers did not make any arrests that resulted in charges. No injuries were reported. And NOPD officers do not carry pepper spray and did not use any pepper spray.”
The University has since released a statement regarding the protest.
There have been no arrests on the campus due to protests. 1 student and 1 individual were briefly detained after trying to breach the door.
— Dillard University (@du1869) November 2, 2016
We respect the rights of students and the community to protest. Our primary focus is the safety of our student body.
— Dillard University (@du1869) November 2, 2016
Do you think Dillard University responded appropriately? Tell us your thoughts!
