A Harvard grad student was told she had to move out of her off-campus apartment–after her roommates found out that she was a Trump supporter who legally owned firearms.
Leyla Pirnie, 24, told the Washington Free Beacon that she had lived uneventfully in the apartment since September and had previously kept her political beliefs to herself.
But when her roommates saw that she owned a red “Make America Great Again” hat, they proceeded to search her room while she was out of town.
“A few weeks ago, I came back to my apartment from a weekend trip and was confronted by one of my roommates who asked if I had guns in the house,” she explained. “After being told far too many lies to count, my roommates finally admitted that they searched my closet, under my bed, and all of my drawers in pursuit of finding my guns.”
“When I asked them why they were in my room to begin with, they each came up with completely contradicting stories (none of which made any sense), but one comment struck me in particular: ‘We saw that you had a MAGA hat and come on, you’re from Alabama… so we just kind of assumed that you had something,'” she added. “I asked why they didn’t just call me and ask me before intruding. One of the girls responded that fear took over her body and she felt compelled to search my room until she found proof… I cannot make this up.”
Pirnie’s roommates went to their landlord, Dave Lewis, to demand that he evict Pirnie. Lewis stopped short of that, but sent all roommates an email suggesting that “it would be best for all parties if [Pirnie] finds another place to live” due to her unwillingness to give up her legally-owned firearms.
Pirnie rejected Lewis’s request that she move, as she’s in the middle of studying for Harvard’s semester finals.
“I’m still very much so being threatened out of my apartment,” she told the Free Beacon. “Either I leave and incur moving expenses or my roommates move and I incur their rent expenses… Doesn’t seem right.”
