A graduate instructor at the University of Illinois has landed in hot water after getting into an altercation with two conservative students during a protest, according to a report.
Tariq Khan, a Ph.D. candidate and graduate instructor at the university, was arrested by campus police following a heated verbal altercation during a Nov. 16 protest against President Donald Trump in which he was involved, Campus Reform reported. During the ordeal, Khan forcibly grabbed the cellphone of one of the students, throwing it on the sidewalk. The students were members of Turning Point USA.
The altercation took place during an event that started as a demonstration for protestors to air grievances about Trump one year after winning the presidential election. During the protest, Khan was giving a politically charged speech, telling the student protestors in attendance to resist Trump’s agenda, according to Campus Reform. During his speech, Khan also told the students to fight fascism.
In a video recorded by the TPUSA members during the altercation, which was obtained by Campus Reform, executive board member and campus activism coordinator for TPUSA, Joel Valdez, and another member of TPUSA can be heard heckling him. Khan then replied by calling them “snowflakes” and threatened to tear down their posters.
Recently, TPUSA posters that were placed throughout the campus were destroyed and or vandalized, with belief that school employees were allegedly responsible.
Valdez is then heard asking Khan, “Don’t you have anything better to do? Don’t you have kids?” According to Campus Reform, Khan mistook the question for Valdez threatening his children and charged the conservative students. Khan allegedly tried to punch toward one student and grabbed the other’s phone, running away with it, Campus Reform reported. Although some of the protesters attempted to convince Khan to give the phone back to the student, he threw the phone to the ground and ran away after TPUSA members suggested calling the police.
Khan was placed under arrest after the University of Illinois police were notified. Khan was then issued a notice to appear to appear in court on a charge of criminal damage to property, with the student’s cellphone being valued by police at $700.
Khan teaches undergraduate students at the university, teaching classes such as Constructing Race in America and U.S. Gender History since 1877. He is also reportedly involved with various organizations including Black Rose Anarchist Federation and Antifa, according to Campus Reform.
This comes only three weeks after Khan helped the campus government shut down the university’s homecoming parade for including a float celebrating the school’s former mascot “Chief Illiniwek,” the publication said.
