An Illinois State University graduate student who flipped a Turning Point USA table on campus was arrested and fired from his teaching assistant position after clip of the hot-headed move made waves online, the school confirmed Monday.
Derek Lopez, 27, was caught on camera last week storming over to the table where students with Illinois State University’s TPUSA chapter were advertising conservative comedian Alex Stein’s Oct. 20 event at the school.
“Well, you know, Jesus did it, so you know I gotta do it, right?” Lopez said before he attempted to rip the tablecloth, only to topple the table on its side.
Jesus famously overturned multiple tables inside of a Jewish temple and chased out swarms of “money changers” and animal breeders he declared turned a “house of prayer” into a “den of robbers,” according to Matthew 21:12 in the Bible.
On Monday afternoon, the school confirmed that Lopez was removed from his role as a graduate teaching assistant.
“While Illinois State University does not comment specifically on personnel matters, we can confirm Derek Lopez has been relieved of his duties as a graduate teaching assistant pending further investigation,” the school wrote.
Teaching assistants at the public university, like many resident assistants nationwide, are paid through a monthly stipend instead of an hourly wage. The minimum a graduate teaching assistant in the master’s program could be paid was boosted to $1,510 a month in August, according to the school’s graduate assistant handbook.
Assuming a student works the estimated 20 hours a week, that stipend would roughly translate to $19 an hour — $4 higher than Illinois minimum wage.
Lopez was arrested on Friday and charged with disorderly conduct and criminal damage to property.
The Illinois State University Police added that Lopez was also involved in a second reported incident where he disrupted a separate informational table hosted by a student group.
University officials and the campus police force reaffirmed their commitment to protecting the community’s First Amendment rights in the wake of Lopez’s scandal.
“We encourage all members of our community to learn more about free speech rights and responsibilities at Illinois State University, including constructive ways to respond when encountering speech they may disagree with,” University Police Department Chief Aaron Woodruff said in a statement.
The post Illinois State University graduate student who flipped TPUSA table fired from teaching assistant position appeared first on New York Post.
