Members of the Nebraska men’s basketball team, joined by coach Tim Miles, united to protest white nationalist Daniel Kleve, who claims to be the most active white nationalist in the Nebraska area via a Google Chat video. He even stated his willingness to use violence in the very same video. Yet, school chancellor Ronnie Green announced Kleve would not be expelled, citing his rights of free speech. Yep, freedom of speech covers hate speech as well.
Wednesday, about 300 people rallied on campus to express their concern about the situation
On Friday, the Husker hoops team decided to take action by agreeing to wear T-shirts with the slogan, “Hate Will Never Win” across the chest. The players are also making a public service announcement in the form of video that will air before home games.
“When my players realized that there’s a person with hate in his heart walking across campus and attending classes with other students and athletes, that struck close to home,” Miles told Yahoo Sports. “They wanted to do something to show that they’re willing to take a firm stand against hate speech and against racism.”
Much of the student body at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln is in an uproar over Kleve, a junior at the university and a participant in the violent riot in Charlottesville, Virginia that resulted in death of 32-year-old Heather Heyer.
Students say university leadership has largely ignored their calls to have a known white nationalist removed from campus.
Im a regular person, just going to school, Kleve says in the video, captured from a Google Hangout among several white supremacists. I am the most active white nationalist in the Nebraska area.
Kleve goes on to say that while he may not look like other white nationalists because of the way he presents himself, that doesnt mean that I dont love violence.
You dont have to look like a violent person to be violent, he said.
People have classes with him, people have been frustrated, hes open with his thoughts about people of color, or as he calls it, white genocide, said a female student after viewing the video. The teachers allow it and it makes students of color very uncomfortable.
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Head basketball coach Tim Miles attended the rally.
Students have raised concerns about Kleves views and actions to University police and campus administrators for months after the Norfolk native was seen standing alongside members of Vanguard America designated a white supremacist group by the Anti-Defamation League and in one photo, attacking a protester with a flashlight.
Those images should be enough for university leaders to act, said one student who asked not to be identified because they feared retaliation: We believe that violates the code of conduct, which says violence is unacceptable in or out of school.
The senior student from Omaha said several complaints have been filed with university leaders, but to no avail.
UNL Police Chief Owen Yardley said in an earlier statement sometimes safety professionals have to be very discreet about what they can say regarding such matters, reiterating the matter is being taken seriously.
Kleve has previously identified himself as a white nationalist before the Lincoln City Council when he testified in opposition to a resolution celebrating diversity and taking a stand against hate and intolerance last September.
