Tennessee student arrested after wearing gorilla mask, handing out bananas at Black Lives Matter protest Washington Post
An East Tennessee State University student was arrested Wednesday after going to a Black Lives Matter protest on campus wearing a gorilla mask and handing out bananas.
Tristan Rettke, an 18-year-old freshman, wore overalls and a gorilla mask and, holding a burlap sack with a Confederate flag and a marijuana leaf on it, offered bananas to students who were protesting, according to the ETSU police department report. He was arrested and charged with civil rights intimidation.
According to the campus police report, after being read his rights Rettke told officers that a couple of days earlier he had seen on social media that there would be a Black Lives Matter event in the "free speech" area of Borchuck Plaza on the Johnson City, Tenn., campus. He said he went to a store Tuesday to buy rope to tie to a bunch of bananas. While there he also bought the mask and brought it all to the event on Wednesday.
According to the police report, Rettke said the stunt was an attempt to provoke the protesters. Rettke did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment Thursday.
In a video posted on social media, the protesters appear to be trying to ignore Rettke, although one protester says on the video that his hands are shaking with anger. A woman at the protest called police.
It was the latest in a series of ugly incidents on campuses across the country as the school year begins with racial tensions high. This month at the University of Michigan, racially offensive posters were found on campus advising white women not to date black men. At Eastern Michigan University, someone painted KKK and slurs on campus walls. At Kansas State University, a photo of a former student with her face painted black and a racial slur was shared on social media.
ETSU president Brian Noland sent a message to campus Wednesday:
"Earlier today during a student-led Black Lives Matter event at Borchuck Plaza, our campus community was outraged by the behavior of one student who confronted the participants. The actions of this one individual go against the values of our university where people come first and all are treated with dignity and respect.
"We are exceptionally proud of the students who were peacefully participating in the event and the manner in which they exercised restraint, thoughtfulness and strength in the face of inappropriate and offensive behavior.
"The ETSU Department of Public Safety staff responded to the incident. At this time, criminal charges are pending before the local district attorney, and an internal student-conduct investigation has begun.
"Our university values diversity, inclusivity and respect for others. In keeping with those values, there will be an opportunity for community dialogue tonight at 7 p.m. inside the D.P. Culp Auditorium. University leadership will be present."
#1: Justified To: All (#0)
Why again was he arrested?
Protesting the protesters?
So much for free speech area!
Justified posted on 2016-09-30 09:18:35 Reply Private Reply
#2: buckeroo To: Justified (#1)
buckeroo posted on 2016-09-30 09:33:31 Reply Private Reply
#3: Justified To: buckeroo (#2)
Its not how I saw it. He was just explaining how BLM is buffoonery and racist. Instead of being allowed to speak the truth they arrested him because he was not politically correct.
Justified posted on 2016-09-30 09:44:38 Reply Private Reply
#4: misterwhite To: buckeroo (#2)
Creating havoc is what anti-Trump protesters are doing at Trump rallies -- yet they're simply escorted away.
misterwhite posted on 2016-09-30 09:50:20 Reply Private Reply
#5: buckeroo To: Justified (#3)
buckeroo posted on 2016-09-30 09:51:09 Reply Private Reply
#6: Stoner To: Justified (#3)
I guess those campus cops did not have any puppy's to torture. Did any of the BLM participants refuse the bananas?
He is probably lucky the BLM participants did not kick his ass.
I say get this guy a whole gorilla suit, and more bananas!
Stoner posted on 2016-09-30 09:58:43 Reply Private Reply
#7: Justified To: buckeroo (#5)
Free speech can be provocative. Just like "(only) Black lives matter".
Its only inciting a riot when you are not PC?
Justified posted on 2016-09-30 10:21:54 Reply Private Reply
#8: buckeroo To: Justified (#7)
By wearing a gorilla mask and handing out bananas to the black folk conducting an otherwise peaceful assembly, 'eh?
buckeroo posted on 2016-09-30 10:40:30 Reply Private Reply
#9: Hondo68 To: Justified, GLM (#0)
Gorilla Lives Matter !
Hondo68 posted on 2016-09-30 11:21:30 Reply Private Reply
#10: Gatlin To: misterwhite, buckeroo (#4)
This happened at a Trump rally in St. Louis in March.

The asshole wasnt arrested, he was escorted away.
Gatlin posted on 2016-09-30 12:31:26 Reply Private Reply
#11: nativist nationalist To: buckeroo (#2)
Buck, you're a full blown cuck. Stone should change your handle to cuckeroo. You libertarians are bigger cucks than the GOPe RINO's.
nativist nationalist posted on 2016-09-30 12:57:28 Reply Private Reply
#12: Hondo68 To: nativist nationalist, buckeroo, Reconquista Republicans, Trumpanzees, *Border Invasion* (#11)
LOL! Welcome to the club, you've been certified 100% red blooded American.
Hondo68 posted on 2016-09-30 13:57:12 Reply Private Reply
#13: calcon To: hondo68 (#9)
now, that's funny
calcon posted on 2016-09-30 14:29:02 Reply Private Reply
#14: goldilucky To: buckeroo (#2)
You are correct, buckeroo. Title 18 Section 2385 address this clearly.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/2385 address this specifically.
18 U.S. Code § 2385 - Advocating overthrow of Government
Current through Pub. L. 114-38. (See Public Laws for the current Congress.)
Whoever knowingly or willfully advocates, abets, advises, or teaches the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying the government of the United States or the government of any State, Territory, District or Possession thereof, or the government of any political subdivision therein, by force or violence, or by the assassination of any officer of any such government; or
Whoever, with intent to cause the overthrow or destruction of any such government, prints, publishes, edits, issues, circulates, sells, distributes, or publicly displays any written or printed matter advocating, advising, or teaching the duty, necessity, desirability, or propriety of overthrowing or destroying any government in the United States by force or violence, or attempts to do so; or
Whoever organizes or helps or attempts to organize any society, group, or assembly of persons who teach, advocate, or encourage the overthrow or destruction of any such government by force or violence; or becomes or is a member of, or affiliates with, any such society, group, or assembly of persons, knowing the purposes thereof
Shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both, and shall be ineligible for employment by the United States or any department or agency thereof, for the five years next following his conviction.
If two or more persons conspire to commit any offense named in this section, each shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both, and shall be ineligible for employment by the United States or any department or agency thereof, for the five years next following his conviction.
As used in this section, the terms organizes and organize, with respect to any society, group, or assembly of persons, include the recruiting of new members, the forming of new units, and the regrouping or expansion of existing clubs, classes, and other units of such society, group, or assembly of persons. (June 25, 1948, ch. 645, 62 Stat. 808; July 24, 1956, ch. 678, § 2, 70 Stat. 623; Pub. L. 87486, June 19, 1962, 76 Stat. 103; Pub. L. 103322, title XXXIII, § 330016(1)(N), Sept. 13, 1994, 108 Stat. 2148.)
goldilucky posted on 2016-09-30 14:56:21 Reply Private Reply
#15: nativist nationalist To: hondo68 (#12)
Hondo the cuck pipes in. You losertarians, you don't like the GOP RINO's because they are not big enough cucks for you. Their favorite leader is Mama Merkel.
nativist nationalist posted on 2016-09-30 15:17:02 Reply Private Reply
#16: calcon To: goldilucky (#14)
you lost me here, how does a guy protesting blm, be accused of this?
calcon posted on 2016-09-30 15:25:53 Reply Private Reply
#17: Hondo68 To: nativist nationalist, cuck card (#15)
You really need to find a better argument than pulling the "cuck" card, tard.
Hondo68 posted on 2016-09-30 15:37:13 Reply Private Reply
#18: goldilucky To: calcon (#16)
If this gathering is supposed to be peaceful, then the person should not be hiding their identity behind a gorilla mask. Actually, it is against the law to conceal ones identity when attending in these protests gatherings.
goldilucky posted on 2016-09-30 15:58:28 Reply Private Reply
#19: ConservingFreedom To: Justified (#0)
Are the authorities saying that BLMs are so dumb they thought he was a real gorilla?
ConservingFreedom posted on 2016-09-30 16:13:06 Reply Private Reply
#20: buckeroo To: goldilucky, nolu chan (#14)
buckeroo posted on 2016-09-30 16:33:13 Reply Private Reply
#21: Justified To: Gatlin (#10)
Justified posted on 2016-09-30 16:38:35 Reply Private Reply
#22: calcon To: goldilucky (#18)
calcon posted on 2016-09-30 17:01:40 Reply Private Reply
#23: GrandIsland To: buckeroo (#2)
Go F' yourself. He wasn't doing anything wrong... his 1st amendment rights are WAY MORE IMPORTANT than anyone else's feelings. Including all the Black Lies Movement cop hating fucking assholes.
GrandIsland posted on 2016-09-30 18:01:34 Reply Private Reply
#24: buckeroo To: GrandIsland (#23)
Yeah he was ... kinda like YOU backing a broke-back system of authority. Can't we all get along?
buckeroo posted on 2016-09-30 18:43:48 Reply Private Reply
#25: Hondo68 To: buckeroo, FireIsland (#24)
Hondo68 posted on 2016-09-30 19:14:49 Reply Private Reply
#26: nolu chan To: Justified (#0)
He was reportedly charged with violating Tennessee Code 39-17-309, Civil Rights Intimidation. I expect the charges will be dropped.
http://law.justia.com/codes/tennessee/2010/title-39/chapter-17/part-3/39-17-309
nolu chan posted on 2016-09-30 21:17:42 Reply Private Reply
#27: nolu chan To: buckeroo, goldilucky (#20)
At least I'm not dumb enough to believe a campus cop charged someone with a violation of a Federal Statute - 18 U.S. Code § 2385 - Advocating overthrow of Government.
Try Tennessee Code 39-17-309. Civil rights intimidation.
nolu chan posted on 2016-09-30 22:33:23 Reply Private Reply
#28: goldilucky To: calcon (#22)
The person wearing the mask was trying to provoke or incite a riot. Inciting a riot is the same as overthrowing the State and United States government especially where it involves violence against other persons and police officers.
goldilucky posted on 2016-10-01 00:36:10 Reply Private Reply
#29: goldilucky To: nolu chan (#27)
goldilucky posted on 2016-10-01 00:44:13 Reply Private Reply
#30: nolu chan To: goldilucky (#29)
Your statute was 18 U.S. Code § 2385 - Advocating overthrow of Government. If you think wearing a gorilla mask and offering bananas to BLM activists is an attempt to overthrow the Federal government, good luck with the prosecution.
The charge was violation of Tennessee Code 39-17-309, Civil rights intimidation.
That is also a stretch. Just how intimidating is a dork in a gorilla mask with bananas?
Maybe they should have cited him for a micro-aggression.
nolu chan posted on 2016-10-01 04:02:19 Reply Private Reply
#31: goldilucky To: nolu chan (#30)
Perhaps, you need to understand what the motive is behind the gorilla mask. But of course, you have never lived under a city curfew like what us Los Angelers did back in '92 because of the violence that brought on more violence during the Rodney King incident. Unless you are a cultured person, it makes sense to those like myself that you are clueless about the negative consequences of wearing a black gorilla mask at a BLM protest led by mostly black protestors. Unless you understand the subliminal message it send to other protestors, you do not understand how something as simple as a gorilla mask can incite a riot in the black community. You try and wear that mask in Oakland, Ca where the Black Panther Party is and chances are you won't live to see the next day.
goldilucky posted on 2016-10-01 14:55:11 Reply Private Reply
#32: Justified To: goldilucky, nolu chan (#31)
Just another excuses to allow some people to break the law or be given special treatment under the law to break the law.
Black people need to take the chip of their shoulders and deal with life. Good bad or ugly. The number one problem in the black community is the black culture!
King got what he got because cops are sick of having to deal with these types of people over and over again. In the white community we don't really care for those people and they get put down as necessary but in the black community everyone bitches because these people are ruining the community and want police to do something and when police do they bitch that the police are too heavy handed. Childish double standard!
Justified posted on 2016-10-02 09:50:47 Reply Private Reply
#33: goldilucky To: Justified (#32)
Well that is obvious. Even the white people don't really care even for their own people. They even snub their own people. Look what happens when a white autistic man is put down by police in Fullerton, Ca. Not even the white people care for this person who is also white. They are too busy trying to keep with the Jones next door. And it seems like the only time all of humanity comes together is in times of national or international crisis. Ever notice that?
goldilucky posted on 2016-10-02 23:58:44 Reply Private Reply
#34: Justified To: goldilucky (#33)
We learned along time ago shitty people infect all those around them and bring the whole community down. Thats why we understand some rotten apples must be removed before it damages the whole basket. Even black people in Africa do this but not in America because of progressives told them its someone else fault not theirs.
They even snub their own people. Look what happens when a white autistic man is put down by police in Fullerton, Ca. Not even the white people care for this person who is also white. They are too busy trying to keep with the Jones next door. And it seems like the only time all of humanity comes together is in times of national or international crisis. Ever notice that?
Adam Lanza was Autistic! I wonder how many parents would be praying for his death by cop? Its funny even progressives are okay with murder as long as its a right winger!
Now if you want to talk about how come America no longer has insane asylums due to progressives and thats the reason why we have so many crazy people running the streets then please lets do. This can only hurt America by not have a place to send truly mentally ill people because the family can not deal with them and they run the streets stealing, raping(or getting raped) and getting hooked on heavy drugs.
Justified posted on 2016-10-03 08:16:40 Reply Private Reply
#35: nolu chan To: goldilucky, Justified (#31)
No, you need to explain how and why you think a goof in a gorilla mask, handing out bananas on campus, can be prosecuted for attempting to overthrow the government.
Your statute was 18 U.S. Code § 2385 - Advocating overthrow of Government.
http://law.justia.com/codes/us/2014/title-18/part-i/chapter-115/sec.-2385/
- - - - - - - - - -
As you are so cultured, I take it you were not hanging out in the hood. If someone goes to a BLM rally in a gorilla mask, he might get his ass kicked. He might even wind up dead. I'm still waiting for your explanation of how he can be prosecuted under the law you cited for attempting to overthrow the government.
I can see how nothing could possibly compare with the Rodney King riots, but that was not an attempt to overthrow the government either.
What some bloggers say they know about me tends to be amazing.
Most amazing are the things bloggers "know" when they know nothing at all.
Only a coddled, cultured American who has not seen violence elsewhere could make such an absurd claim about someone they know practically nothing about.
The Rodney King riots affected only an area of Los Angeles and only resulted in about 50 dead and a couple of thousand injured, and only lasted a week or so. And, if you were not in the affected area, you could have been in Los Angeles and had a total exposure via the media.
It's not like they were setting off hundreds of bombs over the course of years, or holding a revolution and overthrowing a dictator. My goodness, you experienced a curfew. I'm sure that was serious compared to an armed occupation for years, or an actual national revolution.
Well, let's see. I lived in Derry, Northern Ireland in the 70's when the "troubles" were ongoing. Bombs were a frequent happening. That spasm of "troubles" went on for years and years. They blew up the hotels and hit the Guildhall with 150 lbs. of gelignite while I was up the road as part of a crowd watching. Maybe you have heard of Bloody Sunday. And there were sangers on the street corners with armed British soldiers (two hour shifts). I had a sanger just a few feet outside my door.
There were about 3,500 fatalities. That includes over 1,000 British security force personnel. It was estimated that about 2% of the population was killed or injured during the "troubles." (To the tune of Galway Bay: Have you ever been to Derry in the summer; when the petrol bombs are flying in the air; and the CS makes your life a bummer; and you wish the bloody British weren't there?)
It closed down the Northern Ireland government for years.
I was in Portugal for the revolution. That's the one where they really overthrew a national government. You know the chant: O povo, unido, jamais sera vencido! It rhymes in Portuguese (and Spanish). The poor, united, shall not be defeated (vanquished). It does not have the same pizazz in English.
I was across the street from the NATO HQ building in Oeiras, Portugal (near Lisbon) when it was hit by a terrorist bomb. I helped pick up the pieces. Of course, one man's terrorist is another's freedom fighter. CIA members were embedded as members of the U.S. military.
And a revolution just happened on 25 April 1974.
A remote receiver site was the subject of another terrorist bomb. I later toured that site. It was quite a sight. It was underground and the force of the blast could not just blow out windows. It took a few years to fix that one back up.
I'm sorry, but the L.A. riots and a curfew leave me underwhelmed. And that diversion has nothing to do with some goof in a gorilla suit as an attempt to overthrow the federal government. Perhaps you could sell an attempt to disturb the peace or stretch to an attempt to incite a riot. How you stretch it to an attempt to overthrow the government is beyond me. But I still await your explanation.
I rather doubt that it would result in the overthrow of the government.
nolu chan posted on 2016-10-03 19:49:28 Reply Private Reply
#36: redleghunter To: nolu chan (#35)
redleghunter posted on 2016-10-03 20:34:32 Reply Private Reply