It was a turbulent evening at Mizzou last night, following a day of student protests and confrontation with both the university administration and the media. However, as the night wore on activism gave way to ugly backlash, with social media threats to kill black people (an arrest has been made on that front) and one really pissed off white guy throwing an epic tantrum captured in this video where he tells protesters to “take a walk to Africa.”
Video my friend sent me of a man at Speaker's Circle. #Mizzou pic.twitter.com/8umjyUC3oY
— ⇦ Chels ツ (@LovelyChels_) November 11, 2015
Anonymous and other users on Twitter have identified the man as Mizzou student John Lee Couper. While we don’t yet have confirmation, he did announce his plans to be at the speaker’s circle, and his social media posts reveal the level of insane anger he holds toward protesters, “liberal bastards,” Bernie Sanders and Seth Rogen (?!). But the person he really hates is Rachel Maddow, writing on Facebook:
Hey Rachel Maddow. You get 80,000 views on a good day. I’m willing to bet I have 80 million people who disagree with you. We will not be infringed. Your abuse of the press will end and I am willing to die in order to put a stop to your radical views that have plagued my nation. You better bring it. I use words, not buzz words. I use my brain, not my heart. I will not tolerate history repeating itself in my Nation in one years time. You will not be on television if I have anything to say about it.
Hey Rachel Maddow. You get 80,000 views on a good day. I’m willing to bet I have 80 million people who disagree with you. We will not be infringed. Your abuse of the press will end and I am willing to die in order to put a stop to your radical views that have plagued my nation. You better bring it. I use words, not buzz words. I use my brain, not my heart. I will not tolerate history repeating itself in my Nation in one years time. You will not be on television if I have anything to say about it.And
I don’t care how many bridges I burn. A true Patriot will defend terrorism, foreign and domestic. I’m not going to stop until there are people in Washington that are willing to unite us.
In the shadow of the Missouri State Capitol, which features a bust of Rush Limbaugh, Couper and many of his peers were raised on toxic, inflammatory political rhetoric, so it’s not surprising some might be willing to die to silence a cable news anchor. The impact of such rhetoric is often downplayed, but it wasn’t long ago we saw a man shoot Congresswoman Gabby Giffords after Sarah Palin created a graphic putting her in crosshairs.
Let’s hope the old saying, “an empty wagon makes the most noise” applies to Couper and his comrades. If he can limit himself to talk, he may fill Limbaugh’s shoes one day.
