Kansas State student defends tweet as ‘joke’ on talk show, refers to ‘St. Floyd’
On the day Kansas State University announced it would not expel Jaden McNeil for his offensive tweets about George Floyd, the embattled student defended his actions on an online talk show.
“Everyone, not just K-State where I attend, but the entire internet basically, blew up because you’re not allowed to make a joke about St. Floyd,” McNeil told host Scott Greer. “They’re claiming it’s racist, they’re claiming it’s the worst thing you can say.
“The statement in itself isn’t even racist or has anything to do with race. It’s like a common joke made about, like, celebrities who have OD’d on drugs all the time. Not to like back away, it’s not like I’m afraid to talk about race.”
McNeil spoke with Greer — author of the book “No Campus for White Men” — Wednesday afternoon on the YouTube podcast “Highly Respected,” which is popular among the far-right. The episode was called “America’s Most Dangerous College Student.”
Earlier Wednesday, K-State President Richard Myers said the university would not expel McNeil, whose tweets about Floyd prompted many to urge that he be kicked off campus. Doing so, law experts have said, would likely violate McNeil’s First Amendment rights.
“While these messages are disrespectful and abhorrent, we cannot violate the law,” Myers said in a statement to the campus community.
“What we can do is use these incidents as a catalyst to more crisply define the way we will work to stop hate at K-State and combat racism on our campuses.”
K-State has been in the headlines for nearly a week since McNeil, a junior in political science and head of K-State’s controversial America First Students chapter, tweeted about Floyd, the 46-year-old Black man killed in May under the knee of a white police officer in Minneapolis, sparking protests across the country.
McNeil’s tweet — “Congratulations to George Floyd on being drug free for an entire month!” — drew immediate reaction. Many supported his right to free speech, but most denounced the tweet. K-State students, alumni and others called for him to be expelled. And some K-State athletes said they refused to be involved in any athletic activities on campus until McNeil was gone.
Myers’ statement included a list of action steps the university would take instead, including improving the process for receiving complaints of discrimination, developing a policy on social media usage for students, training for staff, and scholarships for minority students.
The K-State athletic department also announced Wednesday that it would create a more diverse atmosphere and help its athletes combat racism.
McNeil and Greer joked on the show that it would be no great loss if the teams quit.
“It’s a huge tragedy to no longer have women’s college basketball,” Greer said. “I’m actually really mad right now…what’s next, maybe softball might cancel? Maybe women’s water polo, if you have that at the university? I mean, where does it end?”
McNeil responded: “I really hope that the rowing team and a few of these other sports, I hope that they don’t put out statements, because that would be devastating to hear.”
Before and during the podcast, listeners posted derogatory comments about Floyd.
McNeil said that he was getting lots of death threats and that the university had done little to address them.
“I’ve talked a little bit to campus police, but other than that, no,” he said. “It’s pretty telling that they’re over here tweeting I lack basic decency, the joke was abhorrent, it was racist, just throwing fuel on the fire, inciting the mob, while there’s boomers tweeting they’re gonna like use a blow torch on me in a soundproof room.”
Meanwhile, student athlete Christianna Carr said that after she tweeted about McNeil, she was sent an image depicting her in a noose tied to a tree.
McNeil said he didn’t think the new policies announced Wednesday would quell the tension on campus over the issue.
“The left is pissed,” he said. “They’ve been pissed for years. They want me gone. This is not gonna be enough.”
Includes reporting by The Star’s Mará Rose Williams.
This story was originally published July 1, 2020 at 6:46 PM.
