Cal Poly Student Reportedly Loses Wrestling Scholarship After Using Homophobic Slur at Trump Rally
Bronson Harmon, a recent high school graduate in California, was set to attend California Polytechnic State University this fall on a wrestling scholarship. However, recent actions of his at a pro-Trump rally have caused him to lose that opportunity, the San Luis Obispo Tribune reports.
The 18-year-old was counter-protesting at the Families Belong Together March in Modesto, California, a protest of Trump’s policy of separating immigrants from their children. A video from the rally shows Bronson holding a Trump sign and yelling “F*ck you, f*ggot,” at a protester while giving the middle finger.
Bronson, his father, Todd, and a friend also allegedly shoved a man into a tree after they saw him behind Todd’s truck, which led to a formal complaint filing, according Modesto Police Department spokeswoman Sharon Bear, per the San Luis Obispo Tribune. The man claims he saw a screwdriver near Todd’s vehicle and was picking it up so the car didn’t get a flat tire; Bronson claims the man was putting the screwdriver behind the tire. The alleged victim then filed a police report and asked to press charges against Bronson, but no charges had been pressed as of Tuesday, according to the report.
After Cal Poly wrestling coach Jon Sioredas noticed the video from the protest, he reportedly called Bronson and informed him that he no longer had a scholarship to wrestle at Cal Poly. Cal Poly athletic director Don Oberhelman told the San Luis Obispo Tribune that the university’s rules allow financial aid to be revoked if a student does something to “cause embarrassment to the school at the discretion of the athletic director.” However, Bronson will still be attending the school in the fall. “It’s just that they can’t be bringing all this publicity to athletics, so I can’t be involved with athletics,” Bronson told the publication.
“I totally regret it,“ he added, per the Tribune. “I got caught up in the heat of the moment. I was there to peacefully protest the things that we believe, and people were harassing us, spitting on us and calling us Nazis.”
A Cal Poly representative sent the following statement to Teen Vogue: “Harmon will not be a member of Cal Poly’s wrestling team but we cannot comment on any details regarding his status as a student because of federal and state privacy laws. We cannot speak to his scholarship or his status as a student specifically; however, a scholarship can be any amount up to the full cost of tuition, fees, room, board, and books. Harmon signed a National Letter of Intent to Cal Poly last November.”
Bronson Harmon has not returned Teen Vogue’s request for comment.
Related: University of Alabama Student Expelled Over Racist Instagram Videos
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