University of Louisville police investigating incidents involving white supremacists

A radical political group has been posting recruitment materials and misinformation about the 2020 election around the University of Louisville campus for weeks, alarming students and triggering an investigation by university officials.

The posters and stickers, shared by U of L students in photos, include the logos and language of the white supremacist group the Patriot Front. They feature phrases such as "Keep America American" and "Better Dead than Red."

In an email to students sent Jan. 15 and obtained by The Courier Journal, V. Faye Jones, the school's senior associate vice president of Diversity & Equity, said the incidents also include "vandalism and hostile interactions directed at people of color" and the theft of a LGBTQ Pride banner from the College of Business.

The U of L Police Department is investigating, according to the email.

"There’s not really anything to update," U of L spokesman John Karman said in response to questions about the status of the investigation.

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The Patriot Front, designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, was founded in Texas in 2017 after the deadly "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.

The Anti-Defamation League says its a "white supremacist group whose members maintain that their ancestors conquered America and bequeathed it solely to them" and that "espouses racism, anti-Semitism and intolerance under the guise of preserving the 'ethnic and cultural origins' of their European ancestors."

Sophomore political science student Meera Sahney said she was "really quite hurt" after first seeing one of the signs in January.

"I was just so appalled, because of phrases like 'Keep America American' ... It was pretty obvious that this organization is trying to send a message," she said.

Sahney shared a picture of that poster, which encouraged people to call Immigration and Customs Enforcement on "illegal aliens," on her Instagram and reported it to the school's diversity and inclusion center.

She heard back quickly, and the poster was removed. 

"I'm glad to see it responded to, to see them take quick action in regards to this incident," she said. "But I do think that there's a lot of work that needs to be done to prevent these types of situations from happening."

U of L's Young Democrats and College Republicans released a joint statement condemning the incidents on social media.

"White nationalists oppose the very principles that our nation was founded on," it reads. "Our organizations completely reject an ideology that seeks the division of our nation upon race and hate, and in this time of uncertainty and political unrest, organizations must reject ideologies that seek to divide the great people of this nation."

Young Democrats President Ariana Velasquez said she first heard of the incidents when members of her organization began sharing pictures of the posters and stickers in a group message. More Patriot Front materials are still showing up on campus, she said, and are usually taken down quickly by university staff. 

Velasquez said she's "never felt like (she) was unwelcome as an Asian student or Hispanic student" at U of L and thinks the school is "doing as much as they can" about the Patriot Front situation. 

Still, the senior political science student said its raised concerns for her that the group feels comfortable posting their materials on campus.

"I think going forward, the University of Louisville and other schools that have had similar problems recently are going to have to look at ways they can make these groups feel wholly unwelcome on campus," she said.

U of L's situation is not the only instance of the Patriot Front's materials appearing on college campuses in Kentucky and around the country in recent weeks.

Northern Kentucky University officials are investigating Patriot Front graffiti left on its campus in late January, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported. And a Pennsylvania police department said in mid-January they were investigating cases of the group's stickers being posted in the town of State College, the home of Penn State University.

A reporter for the nonprofit news site ProPublica shared video of members of the Patriot Front marching through Washington, D.C., on Jan. 29, just weeks after a deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol that featured members of multiple hate groups.

Reach reporter Mary Ramsey at mramsey@gannett.com, and follow her on Twitter @mcolleen1996. Support strong local journalism in our community by subscribing to The Courier Journal today.