Kent State 'gun girl' who walked campus with AR confronted by protesters at Ohio University

Adrianna Rodriguez | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Kent State 'gun girl' Kaitlin Bennett faced protestors at a university Gun rights activist and Kent State graduate Kaitlin Bennett was greeted by a crowd of screaming protesters when she visited Ohio University.

Corrections & Clarifications: An earlier version of this article misstated the location of where the embedded video was taken.

Gun rights activist and Kent State graduate Kaitlin Bennett was greeted by a crowd of screaming protesters Monday when she visited Ohio University.

Bennett came to internet fame for taking a celebratory stroll around campus carrying a semi-automatic rifle after her graduation from Kent State University in 2018.

A video she posted on Twitter, referring to it as a “riot,” showed a crowd of students yelling and throwing drinks at her car as it drove slowly through the campus.

“This is what happens when a Trump supporter goes to a college campus,” she said. “I think @realDonaldTrump should strip funding from universities like this that harbor terrorists.”

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Ohio University Police said in a statement they posted on Twitter that Bennett never notified police of her visit.

“Although such notice is not required, the lack of it deprived the department of the ability to plan staffing levels,” the statement read.

They also rejected Bennett’s claim that the crowd had risen to the level of a “riot” and assured that officers were present throughout the entire incident to “protect everyone’s rights and safety.”

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According to The Athens News, the social media personality visited the campus with staff from her libertarian group “Liberty Hangout” to film a video asking students trivia questions about Presidents Day.

Students at other schools also posted their own TikTok videos of Bennett visiting their campus, including a man who played drums in front of her cameraman as she was filming at the University of Akron.

this guy playing the drums to drone kaitlin bennett out is my hero pic.twitter.com/p8jc9MlBwn — arianna ◡̈ (@styIesradiance) February 12, 2020

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Bennett, who was a gun-rights organizer during her time as a student, went to the Kent State campus and shared photos of herself walking around with an AR-10 across her back and a graduation cap reading, “come and take it.” As a student, Bennett was prohibited from carrying a firearm on campus, but after graduating, she was considered a visitor and legally permitted to carry the rifle.

A couple of months later, she challenged Parkland shooting survivor David Hogg to an arm-wrestling match to determine the fate of the Second Amendment. He never responded to her post.

Contributing: William Cummings, USA TODAY. Follow Adrianna Rodriguez on Twitter: @AdriannaUSAT