LSU Grad Student Benjamin Haas Decides Against Burning Flag as Thousands Counter-Protest [NSFW VIDEO]

Yesterday an LSU grad student's plans to burn an American flag in a peaceful protest was cut short when thousands of LSU students showed up to counter-protest the unpatriotic move. Benjamin Haas, a communication studies graduate student tried to read a prepared statement as an estimated 1,500 to 2,500 students and community members chanted things like "U-S-A" and threw water balloons and ice at him. Haas organized the event via Facebook and even obtained a permit from LSU for the peaceful protest, in response to the arrest of fellow LSU student Isaac Eslava, who was charged for taking the American flag at the LSU War Memorial and burning it less than 24 hours after the announcement of the killing of Osama Bin Laden.

His goal? Well, according to reports from The Daily Reveille, Benjamin Haas said in his statement that he

initially began this flag burning protest to define due process for students and suspected terrorists alike. Solidarity means standing with those who are treated as guilty until proven innocent, instead of the other day around.

[via Daily Reveille]

Regardless of his intentions, for Haas, the boat sank before it left the dock because even though he had gained a permit for the peaceful protest from the university, he found that he also would need a burn permit from the city of Baton Rouge to set fire to a flag and decided to read a statement instead - but as you will see in the video below, LSU, Louisiana and America stood up, and he wouldn't even get that chance.

WARNING: The video below contains VERY strong language that is NSFW as you can imagine the passion in a situation like this.

Some people are saying that the violent mob mentality of the crowd was an example of two wrongs not making anything right, but to that I pose this question. Does "freedom" allow anyone to do anything they want, even when it means destroying property? Especially when that property is also the symbol of our freedom. When I was a kid, I CLEARLY remember it being a big deal for the flag to not touch the ground. It represented something. It represents America, and most importantly everything from wars we have won, to the lives lost for us to maintain life as we know it.

Like the old saying goes, "just because you have the freedom to do something, doesn't make it right."
See Full Story and Photo Gallery from the protest here.