Students descended on Binghamton University’s Spine outside the Library Tower to engage with and confront Keith Darrell, the “Campus Preacher,” who came to campus Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon.

Amid a University Police Department (UPD) presence, students formed a circle around Darrell, who made incendiary remarks about women, people practicing other faiths and the LGBTQ+ community. Multiple students entered the circle’s center on both days to individually confront and challenge Darrell, who was on the Spine for over two hours each day.

Darrell made inflammatory comments about other religious groups and stated anti-abortion beliefs. In one instance, Darrell compared incest to queer relationships, heavily implying that the two were similar under his views on the morality of sex. He also referenced a “gay manifesto” multiple times.

“If you are a young man at this school and you are gay … you are engaged in darkness,” Darrell said on Wednesday.

Darrell also said that a death sentence for gay people was justified, referring to human rights violations in other countries, according to witnesses. In addition, he made sexist comments, saying that men possessed an inherent biological advantage over women. Expanding on his thoughts about sex, Darrell argued that consent was not the only determinator to morality.

“Step-by-step consent is a boner killer,” Darrell said.

On his website, Darrell says he practices “open-air preaching” because it is biblical, historical and practical, with a stated mission to fulfill “The Great Commission” through evangelism on college campuses. He was arrested for resisting or obstructing officers on the Boise State University campus in September 2021.

The scene was adjacent to a truck from Chabad, a Jewish campus group, educating students about Sukkot, a Jewish holiday.

UPD officers were called to the scene before 1:30 p.m. Tuesday and tried to pull Darrell aside, though he refused to cooperate. They remained at the scene to protect students, as well as Darrell’s First Amendment right to free speech.

Many students expressed their disagreement with Darrell’s views. Some engaged with him in debate and others threw french fries at him or jeered at him to leave. Emma Crawford, a senior majoring in psychology, was in the crowd and condemned Darrell’s rhetoric.

“As a fellow Christian, he was the most misogynistic, anti-Semitic f*ck,” Crawford said. “This is not what Christians believe in, nor [is it what] the Holy Bible says.”

Llias Chung, a junior majoring in integrative neuroscience, argued with Darrell on Tuesday. He said that Christianity commanded its followers to be humble, contrasting his experience on campus with Darrell’s words.

“The way he is [preaching] is glorifying himself and not glorifying God, our creator,” Chung said. “As Christians, we’re called to be people who live like Jesus, who share the same love that Jesus gave us, and there’s a lot of amazing people on campus — amazing Christians — who have already been doing that. That’s my hope from this, is that when people hear him and they hear us talking to him, that they’ll know that Christianity is not just what he’s saying. It’s more — it’s something that’s for you and not just to tear you down.”