‘Over my dead body’: North Carolina student recounts defending US flag from anti-Israel protesters

‘They’re going to have to tear me off this flag over my dead body,’ Stompel said. 

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

A University of North Carolina student  who defended the US flag from anti-Israel protesters said he was willing to put his life on the line and said they would have had to take the flag “over my dead body.”

Like many other US campuses, the quad of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was attacked by anti-Israel protesters who descended on a flag flying at half mast to commemorate four Charlotte officers who were killed in the line of duty.

At one point, the protesters removed the American flag and replaced it with a Palestinian flag.

That was when Dan Stompel along with his Pi Kappa Phi fraternity brothers sprang into action.

Stompel, who is a junior majoring in political science, recalled thinking, “I don’t understand how people can act like this.”

Only a few dozen students faced hundreds and held onto the American flag, protecting it from clutching hands of demonstrators as they waited for the police to arrive on the scene.

For an hour, Stompel and his friends were cursed, had hard objects, including rocks and bottles, thrown at them while they clutched the flag to protect it until police arrived to restore the peace so the flag could be flown once again.

Stompel recalled watching out for objects and how the guys warned each other when something new was sent flying.

He also discussed the sheer physical strength required to fend off the demonstrators.

Stompel told FoxNews Digital, “It did hurt our arms. It was like an ‘arm day’ [workout] for me that day. There was no gym happening that day afterwards. It was exhausting. It was beautiful moment.”

“It shows that, …based on the people there, nice, normal, strong boys protecting America’s flag. There’s nothing more patriotic, nothing more genuine, nothing more inspiring than that,” he said.

He added, “I was like, ‘I’d die for this flag.’ And everybody was like, ‘Yeah.’ If they got any closer that we’re going to start throwing hands. We’re not going anywhere, I don’t care. They’re going to have to tear me off this flag over my dead body,” Stompel said.