Name: Iowa State College Republicans' call for people to 'arm up' after Biden's win prompts statement from university
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Iowa State College Republicans' call for people to 'arm up' after Biden's win prompts statement from university

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Des Moines Register A social media post Saturday by Iowa State University’s College Republicans asking people to “arm up,” tweeted after , prompted an ISU&nbsp;statement that university policy prohibits student organizations from suggesting armed activity.Just as news broke around 11:30 a.m.&nbsp;Saturday that Biden was the president-elect,&nbsp;the Iowa State College Republicans' Twitter account tweeted, "Everyone, you must arm up, expect these people to attempt to destroy your life, the elites want revenge on us." Some Iowa State students viewed the tweet as a threat of violence to come.However, Ryan Hurley, Iowa State College Republicans&nbsp;president, said the tweet was meant to support everyone's Second Amendment rights."Our thought in writing the tweet was to support everyone in their right to bear arms," Hurley wrote in an email. "People have sickly twisted it. Violence is not our intent."Iowa State spokesperson&nbsp;Angie Hunt&nbsp;said the university was aware of the social media post."Any suggestion of armed activity by an Iowa State student organization is prohibited by university policy," Hunt said in a statement. "Any conduct that violates university policy will be addressed in an appropriate manner."Hunt declined to say whether any students might&nbsp;be disciplined.&nbsp;Jo Allen, a&nbsp;senior journalism major and&nbsp;head organizer for Ames BLM, said she did not know the true intent of the tweet but felt threatened by it. She said she was giving&nbsp;her personal opinion and did not want to speak for the group.&nbsp;"To me as a queer Black woman, that felt like a message that was threatening," Allen said. "As an affiliate of Iowa State, that is not an appropriate message to be sending out."Allen said the Iowa State College Republicans and their members have long histories&nbsp;of being rude on social media to Black, female and&nbsp;LGBTQ students and others. A September tweet asked about U.S. Rep.&nbsp;Ilhan Omar, D-Minnesota — a naturalized citizen who came to the U.S. from Somalia in her childhood as a refugee&nbsp;— "We have these people coming in here who hate us, undermine us, and cheat us. Time to #DeportOmar."An October tweet described nonbinary,&nbsp;a gender identity that is neither male nor female,&nbsp;as a "mental illness."&nbsp;On Election Day, the group tweeted an image in which Midwestern states were covered in images of Pepe the frog, a cartoon coopted by white supremacists for homophobic and racist uses. The&nbsp;Anti-Defamation League declared Pepe the Frog a&nbsp;&nbsp;in 2016.&nbsp;Whether the College Republicans&nbsp;mean these things or not, words matter, Allen said.&nbsp;"I am sick of having to educate misinformed people, having to fight for my life, constantly live in fear because some people don't accept me," Allen said. "These words mean so much more than they recognize."Hurley declined to say who wrote Saturday's tweet or if the group would issue an apology or felt it needed to issue one.&nbsp;&nbsp;Iowa State College Republicans received multiple death threats before and after this tweet, Hurley said."We have to walk home all of our members in groups to ensure protection," Hurley said. "We always alert people to the rights granted to them by U.S. Constitution. This tweet is nothing to get worked up about."Philip Joens covers breaking news for The Des Moines Register. He can be reached at 515-443-3347&nbsp;at or on Twitter &nbsp;

Des Moines Register A social media post Saturday by Iowa State University’s College Republicans asking people to “arm up,” tweeted after , prompted an ISU&nbsp;statement that university policy prohibits student organizations from suggesting armed activity.Just as news broke around 11:30 a.m.&nbsp;Saturday that Biden was the president-elect,&nbsp;the Iowa State College Republicans' Twitter account tweeted, "Everyone, you must arm up, expect these people to attempt to destroy your life, the elites want revenge on us." Some Iowa State students viewed the tweet as a threat of violence to...

Iowa State College Republicans' call for people to 'arm up' after Biden's win prompts statement from university

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