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JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (AP) — A student at East Tennessee State University has been arrested over disrupting a Black Lives Matter event on campus wearing a gorilla mask, carrying around a rope and trying to hand out bananas.
Media outlets report (http://bit.ly/2d5FYBy ) that Tristan Rettke was charged with one count of civil rights intimidation.
Witnesses took photos and video of the man walking up to demonstrators on Wednesday carrying a burlap sack that had a marijuana leaf and a Confederate battle flag printed on it. Rettke told police that he went to the event to provoke protesters.
The university in a statement expressed outrage at Rettke's conduct and commended students for exercising restraint in the face of offensive behavior.
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