In less then a week, the University of Central Florida Knights for Socialism has held two anti-Trump events on campus.
On Friday, students got their chance to take a “whack” at a piñata depicting the president at their “Whack-a-Trump-Piñata” event.
The Knights for Socialism Facebook page for the event states, “Angry? Afraid? Stressed? Come vent all that out with the Knights for Socialism this Friday on the Free Speech lawn in a celebration of the Mexican and Latino culture that makes America and Florida so great!”
The event attracted a big crowd of students and faculty who saw what was going on and stopped to take a look.
“You can tell on someone’s face that they’re republican and they’re taking a picture, or if someone is taking a picture and being like this is so funny,” Chairman of the Knights for Socialism Dylan Tyer said.
“There’s been no negativity by any means but definitely a lot of interest and a lot of good conversations with people. That’s all we are trying to do, build solidarity with the community and network with like-minded individuals,” Tyer continued.
For the event, the club brought out Minion piñatas and taped pictures of Jeff Sessions, Steve Bannon, and Donald Trump to them. Each of the piñatas were filled with candy, scantrons and past quotes from the three men.
“I saw a really vengeful strike at Sessions,” said Tyer.
“That was interesting and you know it’s not hard to imagine why. This is a guy who liked the KKK until he found out they smoked marijuana so that tells you all you need to know about Jeff Sessions and what the student body might think of him,” Tyer explained.
The UCF conservatives were not amused by the event, and felt that events like these lead to more problems on campus.
“These types of events are certainly violent,” College Republican Jarrett Cathcart said.
“Bashing a piñata of our president adds negatively to the already tense political climate, which exists even on campus. It’s something that is meant to provoke people and spark conflict,” Cathcart continued.
The Knights for Socialism have a very different opinion regarding whether the event was violent or not.
“If you think hitting a piñata is inciting violence, then you need to open your eyes, because there is actual violence being committed against American citizens, being slaughtered by their own government in mass. So if you think this is violent, then I don’t honestly care about your opinion,” Tyer said.
Chairwoman of the College Republicans, Karis Lockhart said,“They have every right to express their opinions of disapproval of President Trump, however putting together an event to beat a piñata with the President’s face on it is out of line and totally disrespectful.”
During the event, the Knights for Socialism collected money for a local charity, red aid and knights pantry. Red aid is a store where the less fortunate can get free clothing, toiletries, and other essentials. Knights for Socialism Treasurer Reinaldo Rivera said, “we got a good amount of contributions, which is what this is for.” The Knights for Socialism raised around 5 dollars and received some non-perishable food donations as well.
