UNC fraternity brothers who held U.S. flag during campus protests speak at Republican National Convention

MILWAUKEE (WNCN) – A group of fraternity brothers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill were in the spotlight at Wednesday night’s Republican National Convention.

Their appearance comes months after campus-wide protests in response to the war in Gaza.

At one point, pro-Palestinian protesters took down Old Glory, replacing it with a Palestinian flag. When school administrators brought out another American flag, protesters tried to remove that one.

“When a mob tried to take down the American flag on our campus, we knew we couldn’t let that happen,” one of them said during their brief remarks Wednesday.

Images of the fraternity brothers holding up and protecting the flag went viral on social media.

“It was all about respect, not just for the cloth, but for everything that the flag stands for.”

Jason Calderon, who wasn’t at the RNC, was one of the students who stepped in.

“As the flag kind of hit the bottom of the pull and pully system, we kind of just started pushing it up, then it turned into us holding it up,” he said.

While none of his fraternity brothers were in attendance, he says it’s surreal seeing fellow Tar Heels on the big stage in Milwaukee.

“Just to see that still happening is really inspiration in that we might have actually made a difference.”

A GoFundMe to throw a party for the fraternity brothers who held up the flag exploded in popularity, raking in more than half a million dollars in about two days.

Organizers are planning to host “Flagstock” Labor Day weekend. They say any leftover money will be donated to charity.

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