Fordham University Student Banned from Campus, Punished by School For Lawful Gun Photo
Richard Moorhead
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New York City’s Fordham University is punishing a rising senior at the school for little more than posting a legal rifle picture on social media to express his support for the Second Amendment.
Dean of Students D. Keith Eldredge banned Austin Tong from even appearing on campus for two Instagram posts. In the rifle picture in question, Tong is holding his legally owned AR-15 rifle, which is modified to be fully compliant with New York’s gun laws. The picture is captioned with ‘Don’t Tread on Me,’ and #198964, a reference to the Chinese government’s persecution of political dissidents at Tiananmen Square.
Tong also shared a picture of murdered Saint Louis retired police captain David Dorn, who was shot and killed by a criminal looter while trying to secure a friend’s small business during the area’s George Floyd riots.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CA-Z5Ddlc2z/?utm_source=ig_embed
Tong was confronted with a letter from Eldredge informing him that he was being investigated for alleged “violation of university regulations relating to bias or hate crimes, threats/intimidation, and disorderly conduct.”
Tong was later adjudicated to be “guilty” of supposed university crimes, on the mere basis of his two slightly conservative and milquetoast Instagram posts, after declining to attend a formal interrogation hearing at the University. He’s hence been banned from so much as appearing on campus, representing Fordham in any capacity until his graduation, and holding any leadership role in a campus club.
Tong has described his support of gun rights and the Second Amendment as inherent to his experience as an immigrant from China. Speaking to Campus Reform, he’s describing Fordham’s arbitrary sanction as ‘Soviet-style interrogation and punishment.’ “I want to honor the memory of an important Chinese Democracy Movement and the appreciation of the right to bear arms in America… As an immigrant, a big beauty of America to me is the right it gives its citizens to bear arms, not only to protect themselves but also to keep the government in check.”
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education has reached out to Fordham, demanding that the university rescind its ridiculous punishments against Tong for little more than gun pictures and memorializing David Dorn.
“America is under attack. Americans are being silenced. I hope to use my punishment as a milestone and reflection of the constitutional crisis we are facing today as a society. Coming to this country as an immigrant, one would think that America is a nation of law and free speech. Yet that is no longer the case…Not simply did Fordham University break its promise and punish me, but it signaled to students nationwide that free speech is a political trap that will destroy you,” Tong told Campus Reform.
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