In 2018, a picture posted on Instagram gained media attention and caused some people outrage. This was a post by Kaitlin Bennett who was attending her graduation ceremony from Kent State University in Ohio. The picture showed Bennett open-carrying an AR-10 rifle at the entrance of her university, which does not allow guns. Many were especially upset because Kent State had experienced a school shooting in the past and this “act of defiance” came across as more of an insult than a political statement. 

Since the growth of the Instagram post, Bennett has stayed clear from the media until recently. Bennett portrays herself as a social-media personality who openly presents her anti-abortion and gun rights advocate views. Despite anyone’s political beliefs, many do like her due to the the way Bennett insults and disrespects seemingly innocent people on camera for her social media platforms. 

The problem with Bennett does not stem from her Conservative views. In fact, many Conservatives disagree with her dramatic views on politics. The problem stems from the way she treats others and the way she presents herself online. She has a specific tactic when interviewing people, who show different opinions than herself, where she will not let them finish a sentence and will constantly ask for specific facts that the average person possibly can’t know. Even if someone has reasonable facts, Kaitlin chooses to ignore them or call them “invalid”. She has never gone into an interview with an open mind. Bennett is not looking for a conversation, she is looking for an argument. Bennett also overuses the line, “You know I carry, right?” referring to open-carrying a gun, when anyone raises their voice at her.

Bennett seems to have no remorse for what she does. One specific scenario that many point to includes a time Bennett dress up in a Native American costume. She was accompanied by an African American man in white face paint and a cowboy costume. Bennett then walked around asking people which they find less offensive. Despite what views people had on this, the way she asked the question about the two “costumes” truly shows that Bennett DOES understand that what she is doing is offensive to some extent. Knowing that some may take offense to what she is doing, she still continued filming her video despite that risk. 

In Bennett’s most recent video, she visits Ohio University with high hopes to insult and ignore college students voicing their opinions. Her expectations to casually walk around and enjoy her time harassing people took a big turn. Upon her arrival, crowds of students raced down to greet her. By “greet” I mean scream and swarm her. Despite the obvious outbursts from students expressing dislike for Bennett, she continues on. Any average person might get “scared-off” by the mobs or realize their presence is not wanted there, but Bennett did not get the memo. The visit ended by the crowds of Ohio students throwing liquids at Bennett’s car and showing their anger with both their middle fingers.  

After Bennett’s Ohio University catastrophe she tweeted:

“I will absolutely be returning to @ohiou’s campus again, and next time I’ll bring an army of gun owners for an open carry walk through campus. You can’t keep us away and you can’t keep us silent. Just like Donald Trump, we will always win.”

On top of causing chaos on Ohio’s campus, she now threatens the students with guns. In her video on her Ohio visit, Bennett openly expressed how she does not believe white privilege exists. Bennett’s other twitter account, that promotes her events and social media, had more outrageous tweets, with one expressing the Holocaust might not have happened.  

Another controversial tweet from Kaitlin Bennett includes:

“Went through TSA with my #MAGA hat on to remind everyone that their jobs are disposable and they’re non-essential. Their paychecks come from someone else’s paychecks. What a world we live in where we accept that.”

She is blatantly insulting TSA workers who are just doing their job and trying to keep people safe. 

Bennett can never truly get her ideas out to people until she learns to respect others and have an open mind.