Campus police and the FBI are investigating multiple instances of a white supremacist group illegally placing stickers promoting their beliefs on campus.
Patriot Front—the group advertised on the stickers—is a neo-Nazi, white supremacist movement founded in 2017 by Dallas native Thomas Rousseau. A manifesto posted on their website contains extremist, racist rhetoric common in white supremacist groups.
The stickers, which were first reported Sept. 30, have been seen on cars , academic buildings and residence halls. The stickers originally said “Patriot Front,” then later evolved to an American flag with a QR code linked to the organization’s website. The latest one, found early Monday, Oct. 7 at Dobson Field, was a slightly larger sticker reading, “Better Red Than Dead.”
“I’ve contacted the FBI, and they are looking into it,” Oklahoma Christian University Chief of Police Greg Giltner said. “They have no information on this group; it is allegedly a white supremacist group. I have been a cop for 31 years, and I have never heard of them. The field agents I am talking to have never heard of this group. At this point, the only two campuses they have shown up on are [the University of Central Oklahoma] and ours.”
Giltner said campus police is considering all evidence to determine who is posting the stickers.
“We are looking at cameras and everything we have been looking at is dark,” Giltner said. “We are going to continue looking at cameras. The only thing is I know nothing about this group, other than when you google Patriot Front it comes up with your very basic white supremacist rhetoric.”
As of now, Giltner said the university has yet to receive any substantial threats, but they encourage students to keep an eye out for suspicious activity.
“Typically, when there is a threat, there is an email or a phone call and someone on campus would be contacted,” Giltner said. “We have gotten no emails to my knowledge and have gotten no suspicious phone calls, or anything threat-related. I would say this: when you are on campus, be aware. If you see something suspicious, call 911 or call the campus police number, but we have not seen anything that has raised any suspicions with us as an immediate threat.”
Some students on campus have seen the stickers and formed their opinions about them.
“There should be no excuse that a minority student should have to see something like this on the way to class,” senior Racquelle Idlebird said. “There have been a lot of symbols of hate surfacing around campus, and they have to be addressed. I do feel good in knowing that there were some white students, Christians, taking these stickers down knowing what they were. That gives me hope.”
Idlebird said university administrators are aware of the issue and working to resolve it.
“I know that myself, Gary Jones and Neil Arter have already gone around campus and taken down every sticker we could find,” Idlebird said. “We have alerted the Black Student Union to report any other stickers or symbols found to Gary Jones. And license plate numbers and extra attention to cameras on campus have come into play to try and prevent this from happening again.”
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