John Rich Sends Offer to UNC Frat Brothers Who Protected American Flag

Country music singer John Rich has offered to put on a free concert for fraternity members at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who were shown protecting an American flag during a campus protest earlier this week.

The gesture was caught on camera at UNC Chapel Hill's main quad on Tuesday, where pro-Palestinian demonstrators replaced the U.S. flag with a Palestinian flag, sparking clashes between protesters and counterprotesters amid wider demonstrations.

According to footage circulated on social media, brothers of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity stepped in to ensure the American flag did not touch the ground as they faced verbal insults. Video captured the students protecting the flag while being targeted by a group of protesters hurling objects at them.

After the footage went viral, musician Rich heaped praise on the men in question and made a public offer on social media to celebrate their efforts.

"For the boys who protected the American flag at UNC, I'd like to offer a free concert for their celebration of freedom party," the star wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday before asking if "anybody [knows how to find these young men."

Tagging conservative radio host Dan Bongino, Rich added: "Maybe we could talk @dbongino into doing a live broadcast from their frat house? Cmon Dan, live a little."

Weighing in, conservative activist Scott Presler commented: "Oh my gosh! Yes, please have @dbongino do a live broadcast from their fraternity house & maybe I can set up a voter registration table."

"We gotta get these fellas on the phone first thing tomorrow!" Rich responded.

Hours later, Rich announced that he had been successful in his attempts to contact the fraternity brothers, writing: "I've made contact with the Patriots at UNC! Working on a date to have a massive event to celebrate our flag and those who love her."

Rich added that he would keep his followers "posted," adding of the proposed event: "Let's call it #Flagstock. Can you make Flagstock trend? LESSGO!"

A GoFundMe campaign to raise funds for a party for the fraternity brothers had raised more than $500,000 at the time of this update. Titled "Pi Kappa Phi Men Defended their Flag. Throw 'em a Rager," the campaign was launched Wednesday morning. The original goal was for $15,000.

A spokesperson for UNC told Newsweek in a statement: "Fraternity and Sorority Life at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is aware of a GoFundMe account related to the protest on Tuesday. The fund is not associated with UNC-Chapel Hill."

Newsweek has contacted representatives of Rich and via email for comment.

Rep. Dan Bishop, a North Carolina Republican who is running for attorney general, declared on X in response to Rich's announcement: "I will so be there."

Bishop's post was liked by Guillermo Estrada, a UNC student and member of Pi Kappa Phi who shared footage of his efforts to protect the flag at the protest.

In his own posts on X, Estrada wrote: "Today was a sad yet empowering day at Chapel Hill. When I walked to class, I saw the Palestinian flag raised on our quad flagpole, and was immediately upset at the act that these 'protesters' had made.

"I cannot say I am fully educated on the Israel/Palestine conflict but it upset me that my country's flag was disrespected in order to advocate for another."

UNC Interim Chancellor Lee Roberts personally walked to the quad to help raise the U.S. flag back to its position when it was removed from the flagpole. After that, Estrada said, pro-Palestinian protesters again attempted to remove it.

"As the Chancellor left, the pro-Palestinians began removing the flag once again," Estrada recounted. "My fraternity brothers and I ran over to hold it up to prevent it from touching the ground. People began throwing water bottles, rocks, and sticks at us, calling us profane names. We stood for an hour defending the flag that so many fight to protect."

This incident at Chapel Hill came amid a series of nationwide protests that originated at Columbia University in New York City two weeks ago, when students established an encampment demanding the university divest from companies with links to Israel over its war in Gaza.

That war followed a deadly attack by Hamas on southern Israel on October 7 of last year, in which militants killed some 1,200 people and took another 250 hostage. Israel's military campaign in Gaza has since killed more than 34,000 people, according to figures from The Associated Press via the Hamas-run local health ministry.

Update 5/3/24, 8:20 a.m. ET: This story has been updated to include a statement from UNC.