Members of a white nationalist group at a public college in Maryland have announced plans to conduct night-time "security patrols" on campus.
The White Student Union, which is tracked by anti-racism campaigners at the Southern Poverty Law Center, said it would use flashlights and pepper spray in its patrols at Towson University, in Baltimore County.
Matthew Heimbach, the president of the WSU, who moderates the organization's blog as "Commander Heimbach," told Towson University's newspaper The Towerlight. "We just want to make campus a better place. If we see a white person commit a crime against a person who is not white, we're going to assist the person who was attacked every time."
The WSU, which is not officially recognised by the university, says it a non-racist club dedicated to upholding the tenets of true conservatism with a goal to "celebrate European heritage."
But it has come under fire recently for a number of racial flare-ups, most notably for organizing a lecture on university grounds for Jared Taylor – a self-described "racial realist"– to discuss the negative consequences of student diversity. Heimbach also appeared on the Thom Hartmann show to discuss the future of the Republican party. During the interview, Heimbach said current GOP strategy should "focus on the blue-collar working vote."
The WSU also prompted headlines at the Conservative Political Action Conference two weeks ago when member Scott Terry made provocative statements about slavery. Terry succeeded in derailing the event, race-debate called "Trump the Race Card: Are You Sick and Tired of Being Called a Racist and You Know You're Not One".
