Activist Derek Torstenson shouts pro-immigrant chants Thursday outside the University of St. Thomas. He organized the protest in direct response to a video of a St. Thomas student shouting a racist insult outside a Turning Point USA event, which he claims was directed at him. (Victor Mshihiri/The Crest) 
Activists Keith McCarron, Torstenson and Lori Bardal protest at the corner of Summit and Cleveland avenues. (Victor Mshihiri/The Crest) 
St. Thomas Public Safety officers monitor the event nearby. (Victor Mshihiri/The Crest) 
Protestors address oncoming traffic. (Victor Mshihiri/The Crest) 
Two officials stand near the protest. Both police and St. Thomas Public Safety officers were present. (Victor Mshihiri/The Crest)
Roughly half a dozen protestors rallied on the corner of Summit and Cleveland avenues Thursday in response to a recent viral video of a University of St. Thomas student yelling a racist insult outside a Turning Point USA event.
Derek Torstenson, a local activist who said the insult was directed at him, organized the rally to demand disciplinary action. He still held the protest, even after the St. Thomas Newsroom announced Tuesday that the student had decided to withdraw from the university.
“St. Thomas should not be OK with what she said; they should have expelled her the first day when they found out,” Torstenson said.
Torstenson used a megaphone to shout pro-immigration chants to oncoming traffic. He was initially joined by three other protestors, including Lori Bardal, who held a sign that read, “White supremacy is terrorism.”
“I’m seeing a lot of white students coming by and kind of smirking and laughing at us, even some older people too, so hopefully this will show them that it’s not OK,” Bardal said. “We’re always gonna stick up for our immigrant community.”
Bardal said the student’s behavior is not acceptable anywhere and that it’s important to call it out.
“How are we going to stop thinking that it’s OK in the first place,” Bardal said. “She can just go on and keep doing whatever she wants to be doing and it’s just not right.”
In her statement provided to the St. Thomas Newsroom, the student wrote that she was “truly sorry.”
“My actions did not reflect the respect and understanding that others deserve, and I recognize the importance of acknowledging the harm my words and actions can cause,” the student wrote.
Keith McCarron, another demonstrator, said that anti-immigration rhetoric is especially problematic in Minnesota, specifically referencing Operation Metro Surge.
“Minnesota is a battleground state and we’re targeted,” McCarron said. “I think it’s really critical for all of us to take things seriously, stand up for each other and not be cowered by this use of force and harassment.”
Senior Flora Walker, a nursing student at St. Thomas, said she came to the protest to make clear that the behavior displayed in the video is unacceptable.
“Every single nursing student I’ve talked to is upset about it. No one’s neutral on it,” Walker said. “I think the general opinion is she shouldn’t be a nursing student and she shouldn’t go to school here.”
The St. Thomas Student Nursing Association released a statement Monday condemning racism, discrimination and xenophobia. It did not directly mention the viral video.
“As nursing students, we are learning not only the knowledge and clinical skills necessary to care for patients, but also the responsibility that comes with being entrusted with the lives and well-being of others,” the SNA wrote. “Nursing is a profession built on compassion, advocacy, and respect for human dignity.”
Junior psychology student Ruby Vang, who passed by the rally, said she felt “seen” and “advocated for” by the protest.
Vang said that after the video was released, “I felt even more uncomfortable being around on campus considering that the majority of the people here are white.”
Emily Kratz can be reached at krat1542@stthomas.edu.
Angeline Patrick Pacheco can be reached at patr3972@stthomas.edu.
Victor Mshihiri can be reached at mshi7898@stthomas.edu.
