Washington State University’s College Republicans hope to build an 18-foot wall in a nod to an 8×20-foot wall the group built in 2016 to ...
Washington State University’s College Republicans hope to build an 18-foot wall in a nod to an 8×20-foot wall the group built in 2016 to “raise awareness of the issue of illegal immigration and border security” and, of course, to “own the libs mercilessly.” The students also hoping the internet will pick up the tab for their creative demonstration.
Two years ago, the Washington State Cougars chapter of the College Republicans incited protests when it built the 8-foot-tall plywood wall with “TRUMP” spray-painted on it at the university’s Pullman, Wash., campus.
In October, a GoFundMe was set up by the president of the school’s College Republicans, who listed their location as “MOSCOW, ID.” The page aired their mission statement to rebuild the wall and to add 10 feet, in a nod to President Trump telling Mexico that the “wall just got 10 feet taller,” according to the president of the group, Amir Rezamand. They plan to use any extra money raised to pay for “various security and fees necessary to make this event as safe as possible and also own the libs mercilessly.”
Unlike Trump’s border wall, which has been estimated to cost nearly $70 billion to build, the College Republicans have listed a modest goal of only $2,500.
So far, as of Tuesday, the group has raised $675 in one month.
The group said that the previous “event ended up drawing literally thousands of people and made it on national news.” The fundraising page says, “Two years later and under new management, it’s time for the WSUCR to once again take up the mantle and defend the rights of our people, the sovereignty of our country, and the importance of our border.”
Rezamand, the president of the school’s College Republicans, who was a member of the group during the initial building of the wall on campus, tells Yahoo Lifestyle, “We feel that now is a crucial time to reinvigorate the debate on border security, given the arrival of the caravan, as well as the lack of construction on what should have been the crowning achievement of the Trump administration. Illegal immigration and the immigration system as a whole is arguably the most important issue not just in politics, but in the continued survival of America as a sovereign nation.”
He added that the building of the wall is not without conflict. “Anytime we do anything, there’s backlash, of course. That’s a fact of being young, in college and politically right wing,” Rezamand tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “I’ve been attacked, called a race traitor, stalked and harassed by leftists more times than I can recall.”
As for the “OK” symbol seen in the photos, Rezamand talked of that to Yahoo Lifestyle as well. Some believe the gesture is now synonymous with white supremacists, with the three extended fingers forming a “W” for “white” and the thumb and forefinger forming the top of a “P” for “power.” But according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, it’s a way for the far right to troll liberals.
“It’s an OK symbol,” Rezamand tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “I’ve been doing that since I was a little kid.” He says they’re “very innocuous symbols, that mean literally nothing.”
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