Students express concern after white supremacist flyers found on MU's campus

COLUMBIA - Students are expressing concern after flyers promoting white supremacy were found throughout campus this week.

An MU student organization, Mizzou Young Democratic Socialists of America, posted to its Instagram account Monday, with photos of the flyers that were found taped to light poles.

Mizzou YDSA's post reads, "WHITE SUPREMACIST, FASCIST STICKERS FOUND ON CAMPUS THIS MORNING. We need Mizzou students to keep an eye out for the individual(s) doing this. Capture photo/video evidence and send it to us, but for your safety, DO NOT CONFRONT THEM. No one should feel confident enough to put this disgusting rhetoric. We will not stand for hate speech on out campus."

Social media chair for Mizzou YSDA, Logan Carter, says an individual found the flyers near Memorial Union and Ninth Street and took them down immediately.

"We view these sort of things, while legal, and while fully protected by free speech, as a sort of legal act of terror," Carter said. "It's meant to discomfort, distrust in a community, to make people in a community feel unsafe."

MU spokesperson Christian Basi said the university received a few reports of the flyers being posted on campus and are looking into them.

"Legal or not, we believe that they should be taken down and that's exactly what we did," Carter said.

MU senior Jeremiah Jordan said he was disgusted when he saw the post.  

"It's very disheartening to know this is the place I call home and to be able to see stuff like that posted all over campus," Jordan said. "It makes it feel like this isn't a safe space, but that's kind of the society we've been living in, and I feel like there needs to be some sort of change, some sort of action."

Jordan says it's great that people are condemning the flyers and lets him know that there are a lot of people out there who don't support it.

The post has over 750 likes and over 70 comments. Screenshots have also garnered attention on Twitter.

MU policies regarding free speech read that posters/signs cannot be placed on light and telephone posts. 

Posted materials must be placed on bulletin boards or in designated areas, according to Basi.

Carter says the individual(s) who taped the flyers should to be held accountable.

Basi says if a student were to to be "caught" putting up a flyer in an area where they are not allowed, MU will take it as an "educational moment" and talk with the individual. He said there are publicly accessible bulletin boards that students can post on throughout campus.