A University of Florida College Republicans chapter was shut down after members were photographed giving Nazi salutes. The young Republicans’ response was not apology, reflection, or even basic embarrassment, but outrage.
Instead, they filed a lawsuit claiming their First Amendment rights were violated because the Nazi salutes happened off campus.
Over the weekend, the state leaders for College Republicans in Florida said it disbanded UF’s chapter for “a pattern of conduct that violated its rules and values, including a recent antisemitic gesture.” The “gesture” being Nazi salutes, a photo of which they fully posted on social media. UF followed up by saying it blocked the chapter’s campus operations. The chapter hit back by filing a free speech lawsuit against UF on Monday, accusing the university of attacking its First Amendment rights because the Nazi salutes took place off campus. They also accused UF of retaliating against them for hosting an event with James Fishback, the 31-year-old extreme far-right and anti-immigration Florida gubernatorial candidate who thinks abortion is “a genocide against the next generation” and “a holocaust against the pre-born.” He wrote on Twitter that UF’s decision was “a disgusting attack on the first amendment.” Damn—the United States of yore that sent its men to die fighting Nazis in 1941 had no idea how simple they had it.
When the defense is that the Nazi salutes didn’t happen on school property, they’ve already lost the argument. I do expect JD Vance to stand up for the goosestepping morons, however.
College Republicans is a government agency? Who knew.
Those NAZI salutes are just them confirming who they are.
Fuck 'em.