Donald Trump Jr. Weighs in on URI Controversy

Donald Trump Jr. Weighs in on URI Controversy

The school year might have just begun, but the University of Rhode Island is squarely in the middle of two controversies.

On Thursday, Donald Trump Jr. weighed in on URI’s decision to remove WWII murals on campus due to the “lack of diversity.”

“Truly sick,” Tweeted Trump Jr. “Don’t let the Left destroy America. God knows they’re trying hard to do that.”

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Trump’s comments on the mural came after URI professor Erik Loomis -- who has been in the spotlight before — reportedly said “killing by Portland activist OK from ‘moral’ perspective: ‘He killed a fascist.’”

Mural Controversy

URI had recently announced plans to remove two murals depicting the events of World War II due to their lack of diversity. The decision was prompted after students complained that the mural was not compatible with the university’s values of inclusivity. 

According to the school’s Vice President of Student Affairs, “Some of our students have even shared with us they didn’t feel comfortable sitting in that space.”

WJAR reported:

“It really depicts a snapshot in time of the university’s history, important history, showing a person returning back to campus from World War II and other historical moments,” said Vice President of Student Affairs, Kathy Collins. “We’ve made a really difficult decision as we aim for the university’s future and we think about who are our students today, and who are our students going to be tomorrow.”

Collins said she’s been working for URI for the last four years and has received complaints from students.

“I have received complaints about the murals that portray a very homogeneous population predominately the persons painted and depicted on the wall are predominantly white and that does not represent who our institution is today,” she said.

Facing backlash, URI said the following:

"We understand the affinity that many of our alumni and community members have to the murals displayed in the URI Memorial Union. We appreciate the emotional connection many have to the past as depicted in the murals showing campus life in the 1950s. In our enthusiasm to reflect our diverse community as it is today, we didn’t invite voices from other important eras to share their perspectives.

We have also been listening, as we should, to the voices of our students today, in particular our students of color and other minorities for whom these murals show what many experience all too frequently–being left out of the picture or conversation. 

These murals are a snapshot in time and no longer represent our diverse community. We appreciate the artist, Dr. Arthur Sherman, his love of URI and his ability to capture that time period. We honor his talents, service and dedication to URI and our nation.

The University will announce its plans to review, gather, and reflect on what has been raised by the end of September."

See full URI statement here.

Latest for URI Professor

“A Rhode Island professor with a history of incendiary comments against conservatives is under fire this week for appearing to suggest that the fatal shooting of a Patriot Prayer supporter during unrest in Portland last month was morally justified,” reported Bradford Betz for Fox News this week. 

Betz wrote:

"The comment from Erik Loomis, a history professor at the University of Rhode Island, came in response to a comment on his blog post: 'Why Was Michael Reinoehl Killed?'

The post questioned whether police deliberately “murdered” 48-year-old Michael Reinoehl, the man who fatally shot Aaron 'Jay' Danielson on Aug. 29, the night Trump supporters clashed with backers of Black Lives Matter in Portland.

'I am extremely anti-conspiracy theory. But it’s not a conspiracy theory at this point in time to wonder if the cops simply murdered him,' Loomis wrote. “The police is shot through with fascists from stem to stern. They were openly working with the fascists in Portland, as they were in Kenosha which led to dead protestors.”

In the comments section, a reader appeared to challenge Loomis’ defense of Reinoehl, writing: 'Erik, he shot and killed a guy.'"

Loomis responded: “[Reinoehl] killed a fascist. I see nothing wrong with it, at least from a moral perspective.”

Neither Loomis nor URI responded to request for comment on his statement. 

In 2012, Loomis came under fire for calling the NRA a “terrorist organization;” in 2016, Loomis was one of two Rhode Island professors “named by a website as those who discriminate against conservative students.”

Donald Trump Jr. Photo: Max Goldberg Wikipedia, Common Commons