St. Thomas Investigates Student Over Video Incident
A video showing a University of St. Thomas student shouting a racist insult and an expletive at protesters outside an October 14 Turning Point USA event at the University of Minnesota spread widely across social media, drawing online backlash and a formal investigation by the university.
University Investigates Off-Campus Incident
The University of St. Thomas issued a statement Friday acknowledging an off-campus incident involving one of its students after a clip recorded outside Coffman Memorial Union gained traction online, startribune.com reported. The university stated that the language heard in the video was inconsistent with its values and that it had begun investigating the matter under its student code of conduct. The statement emphasized the institution’s Catholic identity and its responsibility to provide a welcoming environment.
As a Catholic university, we have a responsibility to provide a welcoming environment for all and do not condone hateful language being used by anyone in our university community.
Student privacy laws prevent the university from publicly discussing individual student matters or naming those involved, according to the administration. The student code grants the institution the right to discipline off-campus conduct that adversely affects the St. Thomas community or is detrimental to the educational mission and/or interests of the University.
Instagram Video Shows Protester Shouting at University Event
The video originated from an Instagram post by Minneapolis resident Darnell Edwards, who documents social issues events across Minnesota. The footage shows a crowd of young adults entering the university union for an event featuring Riley Gaines, a former college swimmer and conservative activist who campaigns against transgender women competing in women’s sports. Protesters outside shouted through megaphones before the woman in the clip turned toward a protester and shouted, “Go back to your own country,” followed by an expletive.
The Crest reported that the video had accumulated 7.2 million views and nearly 15,000 comments by Friday afternoon, with many users tagging official St. Thomas accounts. On Instagram, TikTok, and Reddit, the original post drew more than 30,000 likes and thousands of shares. Commenters flooded institutional pages demanding expulsion or formal disciplinary measures, prompting administrators to disable comments on several official accounts, including @uofstthomasmn, @ust_studentaffairs, and @stthomasadmissions.
Conflicting Online Identifications
The clip does not show the full exchange or capture what preceded the woman’s remarks. Edwards identified the target of the comment during a phone interview as Russian-born activist Derek Torsten. While online posts named the female student, reporters could not locate her to request comment.
Edwards defended publishing the footage while acknowledging the heavy fallout for everyone visible in the recording. He urged his followers to contact the university regarding its code of conduct.
I feel bad for Derek, I feel bad for (the student) and I feel bad for the school, but there needs to be accountability when you decide to use certain words. We’re all adults here. We would tell a 10-year-old to ‘check your words, use your words wisely,’ so why are we not holding adults as accountable as we would anybody?