UNC fraternity members listed as speakers at Republican National Convention

Former President Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign announced on Friday that a group of students and fraternity members would be featured speakers at the Republican National Convention this week, after gaining national attention for holding up the U.S. flag during pro-Palestine protests at UNC on April 30.

The Trump campaign listed the fraternity members among 23 other “Everyday American Convention Speakers” who will participate at the RNC this week, stating that they “patriotically protected an American flag.”

"The students gained national attention as videos of the protest showed them standing strong to protect the American flag, even as protestors antagonized them," the press release stated. 

The UNC College Republicans, an affiliate chapter of the N.C. Federation of College Republicans , wrote in a statement to The Daily Tar Heel that it and its national organization are unaware of which students and fraternity members would be speaking at the RNC. The group said that it was extremely excited to see UNC students speaking at the political convention.

“It has been great to see the support that they have received from the Republican Party and we are glad that they will have the opportunity to talk about the events that transpired on our campus in late April,” the group wrote, writing that it was wonderful to see students getting involved nationally.

Campus events on April 30

At around 5:30 a.m. on April 30, members of the Triangle Gaza Solidarity Encampment — which was located on Polk Place — received a letter from interim Chancellor Lee Roberts and Provost Chris Clemens. The letter stated that demonstrators had to remove all items and leave by 6 a.m. and that failure to disperse would result in possible arrest, suspension and expulsion. By 8 a.m., UNC System police had detained 36 of the protesters in Gerrard Hall, and arrested six of them. 

The University's response came after members of the encampment reconstructed tents on the Quad, after removing them a few days prior at the instruction of the University.

According to the University, demonstrators violated sections II.D.2, IV.B.1 and II.D.7 of the Facilities Use Standard with tents, materials attached to the Polk Place flagpole and signs and materials attached to campus trees, respectively.

After a pre-scheduled vigil held for Palestine that day beginning at around 11:30 a.m. in front of Wilson Library and moving to the steps of South Building, demonstrators surrounded and knocked over barricades placed around Polk Place, removing the U.S. flag and raising the Palestinian flag.

Police officers originally stood toward the side of the Quad as demonstrators stood surrounding the flagpole, until Roberts and UNC Police Chief Brian James led about 15 officers to the center of the group of protesters.

Counter-protesters were present throughout the vigil, but stood to the side on a grassy area close to South Building until police entered the crowd of protesters. Sylvie Tuder, a doctoral student at the University, said to The DTH in a previous article surrounding the April 30 police response that their friends were put in headlocks by counter-protesters. To Tuder's knowledge, these counter-protesters were not punished by the University, with UNC Media Relations saying that they could not comment on the student disciplinary process due to the FERPA statute.

In a May 3 Instagram post, UNC Students for Justice in Palestine wrote that 13 protesters had been suspended. The six arrested have since appeared in court on May 30 and June 10 and are set to reappear July 30.

After police retreated from Polk Place to Gerrard Hall, some counter-protestors stood around the Polk Place flagpole, holding up the U.S. flag.

Dan Stompel, a rising senior at the University and one of the counter-protesters who held up the U.S. flag, said in a May 2 interview with Fox News that he would die for the flag and that if the protesters got any closer to the flag, that counter-protesters would “start throwing hands.”

“[They want to] bring their own twisted ideology into every orifice of this country. Don’t let them do that. Take a stand, be a man,” Stompel said.

GoFundMe and "Flagstock"

Organizers Susan Ralston and John Noonan with Pints for Patriots began a GoFundMe fundraiser for UNC fraternity members who held up the U.S. flag, raising over $500,000 for an “epic rager” deemed Flagstock. The party is scheduled for Labor Day and will feature country music artist John Rich and others. 

In a June 10 update on the fundraiser, Noonan wrote that the remainder of the funds are set to go toward charities including Back the Blue NC, Wounded Warrior Project, Children of Fallen Patriots and Zeta Beta Tau Foundation to Combat Anti-Semitism.

Noonan wrote in the update that the GoFundMe organizers were able to verify that UNC chapters of fraternities Pi Kappa Phi, Alpha Epsilon Pi, Delta Upsilon, Delta Kappa Epsilon, Phi Gamma Delta and Zeta Beta Tau had members at the Polk Place flagpole on April 30.

The DTH was unable to obtain comment from Flagstock organizers, UNC Young Democrats, the UNC Interfraternity Council or chapters of any fraternities or members at UNC.

The RNC will begin in Milwaukee, Wis. on Monday, two days after former President Trump was grazed in the ear by a bullet while at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. According to CBS, there will be increased security coverage at the convention.

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