An impromptu protest broke out on Waverly Avenue Wednesday afternoon as a dozen students gathered behind Schine Student Center to stand against one man’s preaching.

Students cheered and people driving by honked their horns in support of the students, who held up signs they had fashioned out of cardboard and Sharpie markers that read, “Love not Hate,” and “No tolerance for intolerance.”

The protest began when a few students walked by Jim Deferio, a Syracuse man who said he arrived at 12:12 p.m. and was preaching near the back of the Schine Student Center. Abby Leigh Charbonneau, a junior anthropology and creative writing dual major, said she walked by Deferio, who was wearing an “I heart Jesus” hat, and was holding a sign that was intolerant of the gay community.

“I said ‘Jesus preached love not hate,’ and he said ‘I’m not going to argue with a midget,’” said Charbonneau, who is 5 feet, 4 inches tall.

After that, Charbonneau and Rika Inouye, a junior photojournalism major, went to Starbucks, where they got markers and cardboard. They made signs, and began standing near Deferio around 1 p.m. The group slowly began to grow, and at one point there were as many as two dozen people there. They began chanting “No place for hate” later in the afternoon.

Inyoue said the group began forming in the first place in order to show that they were supportive and accepting of all students, and that Deferio didn’t characterize the rest of the campus.

“We don’t want students here to think that they aren’t welcome because of that,” Inyoue said. “He doesn’t represent what we’re thinking.”

Many of the student protestors agreed that they would stay stand along Waverly until Deferio left, even if it meant missing class. They added that a highlight of the afternoon was seeing campus buses honking in support, and hearing from students and university employees who were supportive of their stance.

Deferio eventually moved across the street to the corner outside of health services.

“I was actually getting ready to leave but then I decided to stay because of their cat calls,” Deferio said.

He said that by preaching, he was showing love as it was meant in the Bible. However, he said many students only show apathy toward each other, not love.

“Some of these students, all they’re giving each other is STDs and grief,” Deferio said. “They’re trying to give me grief today.”

Inouye said Deferio wasn’t just making homophobic comments, but was also saying negative things about other religions. She said he made a comment that “Allah is a demon,” and that he had been yelling racist things as well.

Deferio denied making the comments about Allah and other remarks the students were claiming he had said, which was one reason he planned on leaving initially.

“I do show compassion for people but I’m not going to put up with when people misquote me,” he said. “I never said certain things she told me I was saying.”

At 4:20 p.m., Deferio rolled up his sign and left the corner for the day.

Norah Palmer, a junior theatre management and communication and rhetorical studies dual major, said her takeaway from the day’s events was that the attitude on campus is supportive and positive.

She added that it’s important to stand up for those values, even if it’s a small group of people doing so.

“If people don’t stand up and say ‘I’m protesting this actively,’ it’s hard to see we disagree that much,” Palmer said. “Even if one person or a couple dozen people stand up it sends a positive message.”

Published on September 25, 2014 at 12:01 am

Contact Brett: blsamuel@syr.edu | @Brett_Samuels27