Officials at Folsom College in California reported a printout of Pepe the Frog to local police, accusing the student who posted it on campus of an act of hate.
According to a report from Campus Reform, Folsom College in California is currently in crisis mode because an anonymous student posted a picture of Pepe the Frog on a campus bulletin board. Officials at the school say that they are treating a printout of the cartoon frog with the “highest level of seriousness.” They even reported the printout to the local police. Why? Because, according to the college, the frog is a symbol of bigotry.
The Pepe frog was printed out in black and white on a standard piece of printer paper. It was placed next to a poster with the headline “Avoid Fascist Dog Whistles.” The poster says that the phrase “free speech rally” is a dog whistle. In this context, the meme is used to question and inspire disbelief in a ludicrous statement such as the phrase “free speech rally” being a “fascist dog whistle.”
Pepe the Frog is popular online with a wide variety of right-wing activists. To this day, Pepe remains a meme icon for anonymous provocateurs who wish to express their support of populist right causes.
Folsom College President Whitney Yamamura released a lengthy statement earlier this month, condemning the poster. Yamamura says that the college is conducting an investigation into the poster.
As many of you are aware, yesterday a member of the Folsom Lake College faculty discovered a picture posted on their office door of an image that has been commonly co-opted by white supremacists and others as a symbol of bigotry (the symbol was of “Pepe the Frog” – this article explains its racist context). While we do not immediately know the intentions of the person(s) who posted the picture, we are treating this incident with the highest level of seriousness and have already conducted a sweep of all Folsom Lake College campuses to look for other instances of these materials. We have also informed the Los Rios Police Department so they can be on heightened alert for any signs that this may be part of a larger trend or pattern.
Let us take this opportunity to state clearly and without equivocation that hate has no home at Folsom Lake College. Our students, faculty, and staff deserve a place to study and work that is free of bigotry and discrimination in any form. If you, or anyone you know, sees any materials posted on campus of a hateful or bigoted nature, please report it immediately (students should report incidents to faculty or staff, and faculty/staff members should report incidents to a dean or supervisor).
Stay tuned to Breitbart News for more updates on this story.