Oklahoma State conservative students press charges, demand accountability after harassment at table

Student leaders from Young America’s Foundation (YAF) at Oklahoma State University are speaking out following heated confrontations that left their table trashed during four interactions in one day by the same individual. Fox News Digital spoke with YAF chairman Thomas Hatfield and vice chairman Caleb Buxton about the incident, the university’s response and what they hope to see from school officials moving forward.

The students explained what happened and why they believe it is “dangerous” for those on the left to freely describe conservatives as “fascists” and why they think leftists have been “brainwashed.”

The YAF chapter was holding a table in support of traditional marriage last week and hoping to conduct productive debate. They said they first saw an individual approach them from an anti-Israel table nearby and looked angry.

YOUNG AMERICA’S FOUNDATION TABLE GETS TRASHED AT OSU BY PERSON WHO TELLS CONSERVATIVES TO ‘F— OFF’

“When they got to the sidewalk, they pushed through all the people who were there talking to us and started grabbing all of our stickers, pins, everything that was on the table. We started recording, and I followed the individual about 50 yards away to the nearest trash can, where they disposed of all of our stickers and stuff,” Buxton said.

After this first incident, they didn’t think the person would come back, but soon realized that wasn’t the case.

“They came back for a second time, this time walking about three or four hundred yards away from the table. While I was following them, I was able to have a little bit of a discussion with him, but it always resorted back to, ‘You’re a fascist, and I’m not stealing because this isn’t worth a lot of money. They’re just stickers.’ They threw our stickers across the sidewalk and, while I was having that discussion with him, five or six college students were kind enough to start picking up the stickers.”

They came back two more times following the second incident.

“About 15 minutes after that, the individual came back again for a third time, again walking away, throwing the stickers, and this time it ended with about a 20-minute conversation with this individual, where they called me a fascist 16 times in that one sitting and justified everything they were doing because I was a fascist, saying that fascists don’t have rights, they don’t have any reason to be out there, their opinions aren’t worth anything.”

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Buxton shared why he considers the use of the term fascist “dangerous.”

“I think that shows how the left, always pushing fascist rhetoric, has really brainwashed a lot of their followers into thinking that anybody on the right is a fascist, and they don’t have any rights, so I can do whatever I want to them because they’re evil people and I think that’s really dangerous.”

Buxton said if supporting Trump made him a “fascist,” then that would apply to over half of Americans, which he said he didn’t believe is true.

“The person then walked back over to our table a fourth time, grabbed our stickers again, threw them again, which is where the viral clip came from, taken from one of the other people at the table… and this conversation went very shortly and the person walked away. That was kind of the end of the discussions with the individual,” Buxton said. “Then the police came shortly after, and we talked to them for a while, and we are currently pressing charges against the individual.”

The students are seeking charges and hope to see further disciplinary action from the school.

“We will continue to press on until due justice is given to us and to all people who have had free speech incidents on campus because we want to send the message that this is unacceptable and this will not stand,” Hatfield said.

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Oklahoma State Library on the campus of Oklahoma State University on October 1, 2005, in Stillwater, Oklahoma.   (Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)

“If this were to happen to a leftist club on campus, there would be all kinds of emails — do you need mental training or anything like that or therapy. So we haven’t got any type of outreach like that,” Buxton said.

Regardless, YAF at OSU plans to continue pushing forward.

“We’re going to keep working hard to push on social issues that we have always worked on,” Buxton said. “We’re going to have to keep pushing on them and never back down no matter what happens. I think if you back down during times of trouble, that’s not going to help anyone.”

Hatfield is also encouraging the school to sign a contract put forth by the YAF Federation.

“We would also like to, officially, as Young Americans for Freedom at Oklahoma State University, demand that Oklahoma State sign on to the Contract for Safe Campus dialog as put forward by Young America’s Foundation and the president of the Young America Foundation, Governor Scott Walker,” he said. 

“We demand that Oklahoma State University sign this contract and this charter to ensure that all students, no matter what side of the aisle they stand on politically or socially, may have a place to speak at Oklahoma State University and to ensure that an incident like this never happens again,” Hatfield continued. 

“And we ask Oklahoma State university not to sign this as lip service to our side, but we ask them to sign it as a commitment and to release us and many statements to enact policies, committing to fostering an environment where everyone’s First Amendment rights are respected,” he added.

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OSU commented on the viral post, writing, “Oklahoma State University supports free speech. The OSU Police Department is actively investigating this incident.”

In a comment made to Fox News Digital on Friday, OSU wrote, “Oklahoma State University supports the rights of student groups to express their opinions and speak freely. The OSU Police Department has investigated the incident, and charges are pending.”

Fox News Digital also reached out to OSU following the interview with Hatfield and Buxton and was provided with the same response: “Oklahoma State University supports the rights of student groups to express their opinions and speak freely.” 

“The OSU Police Department immediately investigated the incident, and charges are pending. Additionally, while federal law prohibits the university from sharing information on specific students, we can share that our student conduct team is engaged in this matter and will address any violations of our student code of conduct,” the statement added. 

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Fox News’ Nikolas Lanum and Alba Cuebas-Fantauzzi contributed to this report.