Trump-loving wrestler loses scholarship for attacking protesters: 'People were calling us Nazis'
A California student claims he's a victim after losing his athletic scholarship for shouting homophobic slurs at civil rights protesters.
Bronson Harmon attended California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo on a wrestling scholarship, which was rescinded after viral videos showed him using anti-LGBT slurs while marching with his father, reported The Tribune.
“Saying what I said is definitely not the right thing,” Harmon told newspaper. “I am supposed to be there to help the community be the best person I can be and represent the college the best way I can.”
But the incoming student says his rights were violated after he suffered consequences for his actions.
“I still feel like my freedom of speech was taken away, and I don’t think my scholarship should have been revoked over something like that,” Harmon said.
The Facebook video shows Bronson Harmon carrying a pro-Trump sign while marching with his father, Todd Harmon, at a June 30 Families Belong Together March to protest the family separation policy.
The recent high school graduate is shown flipping off a demonstrator and screaming, "F*ck you, f*ggot."
Another video, posted on Twitter but later deleted, shows Harmon shouting "Trump 2020" at protesters.
The Harmons and a friend also started a fight with demonstrators, according to police.
Officers said they roughed up a man who picked up a screwdriver near their car, believing he intended to vandalize the vehicle, but the man did not seek medical attention afterward.
Harmon blames the demonstrators for his use of the homophobic slur.
“I totally regret it,” he told the newspaper. “I got caught up in the heat of the moment. I was there to peacefully protest the things that we believe, and people were harassing us, spitting on us and calling us Nazis.”
The university has dealt with several recent incidents of racism on campus, including students wearing blackface, white supremacist graffiti and racist flyers.
Harmon said he still plans to attend Cal Poly, but he won't participate in wrestling and will instead train as a mixed martial arts fighter.