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The vice president of Clemson University’s student government, a black student who recently refused to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance, is now facing an impeachment trial after the university’s student senate held a vote earlier this week and voted to impeach him.


Of course, as the Associated Press notes, the university’s spokesman denied that the vote to impeach had anything to do with Jaren Stewart’s pledge protest, claiming that the impeachment proceedings started before Stewart started taking his stand (or seat, if you will).

Student Sen. Miller Hoffman, who is white, first introduced the notion of impeaching Stewart, citing a leaked document that detailed alleged misconduct. Hoffman has also denied that the move had anything to do with Stewart’s pledge protest or his race.


The cowards student senate held a vote Monday via secret ballot while Stewart was out of town. There will be a closed-door impeachment trial that will determine whether Stewart will be removed from office; however, during the trial, Stewart will actually be able to defend himself. That being said, if any senator reveals the details of the trial, they will also face impeachment.

Stewart was but one of a group of students who sat through the pledge at a student government meeting on Sept. 25 in solidarity with NFL players who are protesting police brutality and black oppression.

As AP notes, the South Carolina university’s student body is about 83 percent white and 7 percent black.

Read more at the New York Times.