by Lydia Chantler-Hicks and Ka Yee Mak

A University of Kent society has been suspended for the remainder of the academic year amid sanctions over "racist" messages.

Liberty Union was temporarily suspended last month after dozens of messages were allegedly posted on the its Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp groups.

The messages - containing references to the "brownshirts" and disparaging remarks about multiculturalism - were leaked to Kent Anti-racist News.

A screenshot of one of the messages read: "We need a student watch. Like neighbourhood watch, but with cool brownshirts, cute armbands and billy clubs."

Responding to the message, a member of the group added: "And a Students for Liberty pin."

Another screenshot showed a person linking multiculturalism to crime.

In further messages, a member of the group claimed he had former English Defence League leader Tommy Robinson's contact details.

A statement released by the Liberty Union insisted the messages had been taken out of context.

“We believe these comments are entirely misrepresented and taken out of context, and do not represent the views and principles of the Liberty Union,” it said.

“The ideology of libertarianism, by its very nature, is at complete odds with any form of racism, fascism, or anti-Semitism.

“We have provided Kent Union with full access to our group chat and screenshots both immediately before and after the ones posted by Kent Anti-Racist News, as we believe the context will prove that there is no racism or malicious intent in any of the comments whatsoever.

“It is worth also stating that none of the comments were directed at any individuals, and as such we apologise if they have caused offence or hurt to anyone at the University of Kent or in the wider community.”

The society added that it has suspended some of its members and will be taking disciplinary action against them for the “jokes”.

Kent Union temporarily suspended the group on March 21, while it investigated the allegations.

On March 28, Kent Union met with representatives from UKC Liberty Union to hear their defence and come to a decision.

Today, Kent Union announced: "The Panel found UKC Liberty Union to be in breach of our student disciplinary procedure."

UKC Liberty Union Society will now be suspended until the academic year ends on June 14, and the society is required to remove all group chats from social media.

In the meantime, the society's nominations for the Union's activities awards have been retracted.

All members will be required to undertake equality, diversity and inclusivity training organized through Union, and the society must implement social media guidelines once these have been reviewed by the Union.

Names of individuals who have allegedly made "racist" comments will also be passed on to the University.

The Union is to meet with the society to ensure actions have been taken before reinstatement for the new academic year.

The UKC Liberty Union tried to appeal against the ruling, but its appeal has today been denied on the grounds there was "no reason to believe the procedure was followed incorrectly and no reason to believe the decision by the panel was formed incorrectly".

'We condemn, and will not tolerate any form of racism or hate speech' - Kent Union

A statement previously released by Kent Union said the messages "go against everything that we stand for and believe in".

It added: "We are proud to protect the rights of all individuals on campus and will investigate these allegations, alongside the University of Kent.

"We condemn, and will not tolerate any form of racism or hate speech."

The society courted controversy in February after inviting Katie Hopkins to the university to address students.

At the time, members said the former Apprentice contestant had been “largely misrepresented”.

Last year, Kent Union also tried block the Liberty Union's attempts to invite controversial Youtuber Carl Benjamin, who is known as Sargon of Akkad.

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