Student says university sanctioned him for pro-Second Amendment Instagram post

A student at Fordham University said the school subjected him to a "Soviet-style" punishment process after he published several political Instagram posts, including one in support of the Second Amendment. 

Rising senior Austin Tong drew the attention of university officials with two recent posts, one which mourned a recently murdered former police chief and the other which depicted Tong holding a firearm.

The retired police chief in question, David Dorn, was shot and killed during a Black Lives Matter-adjacent riot in St. Louis last month. Dorn, who is black, was murdered while defending a friend's pawn shop from looters. "Ya'll a bunch of hypocrites," Tong wrote in the post along with a picture of Dorn. 

The second post in question, meanwhile, featured Tong holding a semi-automatic rifle with the caption "Don’t tread on me. #198964." The numbers are a reference to the Tiananmen Square Massacre, which occurred on June 4, 1989. 

Tong told Campus Reform that he received two letters from Fordham University Dean of Students Keith Eldredge, the first one telling him that the university had begun investigating his Instagram to determine if the posts violated university policy regarding "regulations relating to bias and/or hate crimes," "threats/intimidation," and "disorderly conduct." 

A subsequent letter said Tong had been found in violation of the former two policies. As part of the sanctions leveled against him, Campus Reform reports, he is "forbidden from representing the university in any official capacity," including "a ban on him running for or holding leadership roles in student organizations and participation in varsity or club sports." He will also require permission from the dean of students to visit campus and will be forced to attend his remaining classes online.

He will reportedly also have to attend implicit bias training with the school's Multicultural Affairs office and write an apology letter.

Tong has subsequently declared that he intends to take legal action against the university, "even if it means fighting to the U.S. Supreme court."