UNC Chancellor Raises American Flag Removed by Anti-Israel Protesters

University of North Carolina (UNC) Chapel Hill Chancellor Lee H. Roberts returned the American flag to the top of the flag pole after anti-Israel protesters had removed it.

In a video posted to X, Roberts could be seen untangling the American flag and raising it back to the top of the flag pole as a crowd of people could be heard cheering, “USA! USA! USA!”

The American flag had been removed by anti-Israel protesters earlier in the day.

After removing the American flag, anti-Israel protesters replaced the flag with a Palestinian flag.

Students with the Turning Point USA chapter at UNC Chapel Hill displayed an American flag in response to the pro-Palestinian protesters who had replaced the flag.

As the anti-Israel protesters replaced the American flag with the Palestinian flag, they chanted, “From the River to the Sea” and “Free Palestine,” according to CBS17.

Law enforcement officials then escorted Roberts to the center of the quad where he began hoisting the American flag back to the top of the flag pole.

This led to a clash between anti-Israel protesters and law enforcement officials, resulting in the use of pepper spray by law enforcement officials.

Before this, university officials had revealed that 36 protesters had been detained after failing to disperse. Out of this number, 30 protesters were cited with trespassing before reportedly being “released on-site”

Three students and three others were reportedly arrested and charged with trespassing.

Since an initial anti-Israel encampment was established at Columbia University on April 17, several encampments have popped up at Harvard University, Princeton University, George Washington University, New York University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of California Los Angeles in support of the Columbia University’s encampment.

Anti-Israel protesters in the encampments established at various universities and colleges have a wide array of demands, including divestment from Israeli companies, ending academic ties with Israeli educational institutions, full amnesty for protesters involved in the encampments who have either been suspended or arrested, a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas, and for the United States to stop arming Israel.

Israel launched a self-defense operation in the Hamas-controlled territory of Gaza after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, leaving 1,200 Israelis dead and more than 200 people taken as hostages.

The attack by Hamas saw roughly 3,000 terrorists from the U.S.-designated Islamic terror group invade Israel by land, air, and sea, leaving participants at a music festival dead, while other terrorists hunted down Jewish men, women, and children, subjecting many to rape, torture, and death.