College Republicans’ booth allegedly attacked on UCSC campus

Santa Cruz, Calif. (KION) Members of the College Republicans club at UC Santa Cruz said that two students attacked their club’s display on campus last week.

Campus police released a statement on Facebook saying they were aware of the incident and are investigating. They said they cannot provide any additional information until the investigation is complete.

"They came over, they destroyed our flags, or at least damaged them by tugging on them," Dylan Temple, President of the College Republicans club, said. "And they pulled down our banner, destroying it completely. And then they spit on the Betsy Ross American flag.”

Temple said he thinks the attack was politically charged, but the alleged attackers did not want to talk about politics.

"Profanities, they weren’t really willing to discuss the nature of the politics they believed," Temple said. "They just wanted to assault us, essentially.”

A viral video of the incident on social media confirmed the behavior, but did not show the interactions leading up to it.

David Orellana, a member of the club, was the one who recorded the incident.

"They feel this sense of pride because they’re trying to kick us out or push us away," Orellana said. "That’s when, like, that’s not right.”

Police have not yet confirmed the identities of the two vandals in the video. But Temple said he knows who one of them is. He also believes the incident is a reaction to political division on a national level.

“It could’ve been hinged to Trump’s impeachment process, and ultimately him being acquitted in the Senate," Temple said. "Maybe they just didn’t like us because purely we’re Republicans.”