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White Supremacist Group Covers University's Black History Month Posters With Pro-Hitler Flyers
The flyers have since been removed.
A number of Black History Month posters at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga were covered up by pro-Hitler flyers last week, WRCB TV reports.
The original posters advertise the university's roster of events celebrating Black History Month; the posters that were placed over them on Wednesday read "Hitler was right," and were reportedly put in place by the Traditionalist Workers Party, a group which the Southern Poverty Law Center identifies as a white supremacist organization.
The posters were later removed in accordance with university policy, which states that groups must have permission to advertise events on campus before doing so. While the Traditionalist Workers Party claim to have plans for their founder, Matthew Heimbach, to speak at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville campus on February 17, University of Tennessee Chancellor Beverly Davenport said in a statement that the group is not welcome.
"To those of you who have reached out to me through email, social media, or other means, please know I have heard you and share your concerns," her statement continued. "Also, please know the safety and well-being of everyone on this campus is my primary concern."
In a statement of his own, University of Tennessee system President Joe DiPietro said that there is no place for hate, racism, and violence on any of the university campuses or facilities, and reiterated that the group had not been invited to speak on campus.
"The ugly reality is, extremist groups are actively organizing, targeting colleges and universities in an attempt to be heard and to grow their ranks," DiPietro's statement reads. "And now, two of our own campuses — the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga — are being targeted."
Founder of the Traditionalist Workers Party Matthew Heimbach was one of the organizers of the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia last year that ultimately cost activist Heather Heyer her life after a white supremacist drove his car into a group of counter-protestors.
[Photo: WRCB TV]
