Gun Rights Provocateur triggers students at alma mater

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Gun rights activist and Kent State graduate Kaitlin Bennett was greeted by a crowd of screaming protesters Monday when she visited Ohio University.

Bennett came to internet fame for taking a celebratory stroll around campus carrying a semi-automatic rifle after her graduation from Kent State University in 2018.

A video she posted on Twitter, referring to it as a “riot,” showed a crowd of students yelling and throwing drinks at her car as they drove slowly through the campus.

“This is what happens when a Trump supporter goes to a college campus,” she said. “I think @realDonaldTrump should strip funding from universities like this that harbor terrorists.”

Ohio University Police said in a statement they posted on Twitter that Bennett never notified police of her visit.

“Although such notice is not required, the lack of it deprived the department of the ability to plan staffing levels,” the statement read.

They also rejected Bennett’s claim that the crowd had risen to the level of a “riot” and assured that officers were present throughout the entire incident to “protect everyone’s rights and safety.”

According to The Athens News, the social media personality visited the campus with staff from her libertarian group “Liberty Hangout” to film a video asking students trivia questions about Presidents Day.

Students at other schools also posted their own TikTok videos of Bennett visiting their campus, including a man who played drums in front of her cameraman as she was filming at the University of Akron.

Bennett, who was a gun-rights organizer during her time as a student, went to the Kent State campus and shared photos of herself walking around with an AR-10 across her back and a graduation cap reading, “come and take it.” As a student, Bennett was prohibited from carrying a firearm on campus, but after graduating, she was considered a visitor and legally permitted to carry the rifle.

A couple of months later, she challenged Parkland shooting survivor David Hogg to an arm-wrestling match to determine the fate of the Second Amendment. He never responded to her post.

The provocateur posted video of herself in a truck as students threw drinks and shouted expletives at her as the vehicle attempted to leave.

Other videos posted to numerous social media platformed showed Bennett followed by a large crowd of students as she walked on campus, shouting taunts and throwing toilet paper at her.

The incident began trending on Twitter Tuesday morning as some expressed sympathy for Bennett but others reveled in the verbal abuse she was met with.

The girl has been nicely brainwashed by her parents so what do you expect? Her little performance is like cheer leading for the NRA...fairly obvious who is the hand behind this little puppet.

Oh and BTW she's a little young for Raptor who is likely her father's age.

Nothing wrong with supporting what you believe in the last time I checked this is the USA not China. I fully support people who own guns and I fully support people who don't want to own guns.

Having the right to own a gun is one thing, having the right to brandish a loaded weapon in public at college in order to intimidate other students is another matter.

The girl is lucky she's not spending the night in jail.

Nothing wrong with supporting what you believe in the last time I checked this is the USA not China. I fully support people who own guns and I fully support people who don't want to own guns.

Having the right to own a gun is one thing, having the right to brandish a loaded weapon in public at college in order to intimidate other students is another matter.

The girl is lucky she's not spending the night in jail.

"You are legally permitted to carry a rifle, but if you carry a rifle you are a terrorist." Seems legit.

Also, these students..."That person has a weapon and I'm scared for my safety; I'm gonna harass and assult them!"

Having the right to own a gun is one thing, having the right to brandish a loaded weapon in public at college in order to intimidate other students is another matter.

The girl is lucky she's not spending the night in jail.

so I don't think intimidation can be credibly ascribed to her.

Kaitlin Bennett (born October 15, 1995) is an American gun rights advocate, anti-abortion activist, and social media personality. Bennett received media attention in 2018 for open-carrying an AR-10 rifle at Kent State University after graduating.

In May 2018, Bennett graduated with a degree in biology from Kent State University in Kent, Ohio.

In 2018 Bennett posed for her graduation photo holding an AR-10 long gun in front of the university sign. She stated that as a student at Kent, she should have been able to open-carry for self-defense, citing the 1970 Kent State shootings where Ohio National Guardsmen fired on unarmed students protesting the U.S. bombing of Cambodia.
Later that year, Bennett organized an open-carry rally at Kent State. The university released a statement that a cease and desist had been issued against advertising the event, as Bennett had not attempted to register the event with the university. oShe returned to Kent State in November to host a discussion on gun rights.

Following her initial protest of Kent State, Bennett became a correspondent for Infowars. Due to her affiliation with Infowars, she was excluded from a campaign event for Bernie Sanders.

In January 2020, clips began surfacing online of Bennett's 2019 interviews with University of Kentucky students. Originally posted by Liberty Hangout with the title "College Students Have No Morals",the videos show Bennett questioning the students on the issue of resources for transgender people in bathrooms. The clips quickly became popular on social media, with users entertained by the dichotomy between Bennett and the interviewees' reactions to the topic. One student seen in the interviews used the online attention to raise money for charity.

Yeah--while I don't agree with her I do believe the logic on all sides here is flawed. Good for pointing this out.

I fully concede that the intent was to be provocative. That's not the same as intimidation. This little stunt was not a statement of intent to harm or extort compliance from anyone and students were not in any sort of danger from her or the rifles presence. And frankly, considering how the students acted towards her by throwing objects and liquids and vandalizing property, she would have been within her rights to at least fire a warning shot.