University president caves to outrage mob, falsely accuses TPUSA of 'incitement' for poster celebrating legacy of MLK Jr

A local Turning Point USA chapter got permission to hang up a poster featuring a Martin Luther King Jr quote on their campus. But this past Monday, the President of Coastal Carolina University in South Carolina accused the group of "incitement," regardless.

In addition, the school is going to change their approval policies as a result of outrage over the poster.

Below the quote itself, the poster says "Celebrate Black History Month and Valentine's Day by choosing love over critical hate theory."

In the response from Carolina University’s President, Michael T. Benson first assures the student population he’s well-versed on civil rights issues.

But then he addresses the apparent controversy:

"I am referencing an incident from last Monday involving a poster that was publicly displayed on bulletin boards around campus. The poster went through the prescribed process for approval and was subsequently signed off on after revisions were made, with a conclusion – per our current policy – that its content fell within the protected speech area of the First Amendment."

There’s more.

"While the poster may have been deemed ‘protected speech,’ its carefully-constructed use of certain words, an opinion-based indirect reference to critical race theory – and even an image of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., with this quote: ‘Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that" – was created with a goal to incite. This is exactly what happened and we have heard from students since Monday evening what hurtful and damaging collateral impact this message has had on many within our campus community."

So now Coastal Carolina University is changing the rules of their approval process.

According to local outlet WMBF, a group of outraged students and residents held a demonstration outside a Board of Trustees meeting, demanding the posters be removed. The person who created them in the first place agreed to take them down.

So now school officials are reworking their "Free Speech, Solicitation, and Promotional Activities on Campus" policy to make sure incitement from Martin Luther King, Jr. quotes doesn’t happen again.

Back in January, Colorado State University officials offered resource hotlines for students emotionally devastated by free speech events on the school campus.