Country singer John Rich plans to hold a free “Flagstock” concert at the University of North Carolina on behalf of the fraternity brothers who stopped pro-Palestinian protesters from pulling the American flag off a campus flag pole.
Mr. Rich told NewsNation’s “On Balance” Thursday that the young men helped restore his faith in the idea that some college students still love America.
“When I saw the guys at UNC holding that flag up, making sure it did not hit the ground, it told me a lot about them,” Mr. Rich said.
“We’re gonna call the show ‘Flagstock.’ It’s gonna be an absolute blast, man,” he added. “We may have to write a specific song about it.”
The protests and arrests on college campuses over Israel’s war in Gaza have garnered wall-to-wall coverage on cable news networks.
Protesters have called for an end to the Israel-Hamas war, which has led to the killing of more than 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health.
They have also demanded college leaders cut ties with Israel and companies that support the war.
The war began after Hamas attacked innocent civilians Oct. 7 in Israel that left 1,200 people dead.
Roughly 250 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage, according to Israeli officials, and Hamas still is holding over 100 of them, Israel says.
The clashes spilled onto UNC’s Chapel Hill campus where members of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity stopped demonstrators from yanking down the American flag.
They have since raised $500,000 through GoFundMe for a rager, or wild party, celebrating their efforts.
The college protests have divided Democrats. Republicans have solidly criticized President Biden and college presidents while zeroing in on the episodes of antisemitic rhetoric and harassment of Jewish students.
Things reached such a fervor pitch this week that Mr. Biden broke his silence Thursday, saying the protesters have taken things too far.
“There’s the right to protest, but not the right to cause chaos,” he said. “People have the right to get an education, the right to get a degree, the right to walk across the campus safely without fear of being attacked.”
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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