The Illinois State University graduate student who flipped TPUSA’s schedule has been fired from his teaching assistant position

An Illinois State University graduate student who flipped a Turning Point USA table on campus has been arrested and fired from his position as a teaching assistant after a clip of the heated move made waves online, the school confirmed Monday.

Derrick Lopez, 27, was caught on camera last week storming the table where students from Illinois State University’s TPUSA chapter were announcing conservative comedian Alex Stein’s Oct. 20 event at the school.

“Well, you know, Jesus did it, so you know I should do it, right?” Lopez said before trying to rip the tablecloth, only to drop the table on its side.

Jesus is known to have overturned several tables inside the Jewish temple, chased away crowds of “money changers” and animal keepers, and declared that he had turned the “house of prayer” into a “den of thieves,” according to Matthew 21:12 in the Bible.

On Monday afternoon, the school confirmed that Lopez had been removed from his position as a graduate teaching assistant.

“Although Illinois State University does not comment specifically on personnel matters, we can confirm that Derrick Lopez has been relieved of his duties as a graduate teaching assistant pending further investigation,” the university wrote.

Public university teaching assistants, like many resident assistants across the country, are paid by a monthly stipend rather than an hourly wage. The minimum a teaching assistant in a master’s program can earn was raised to $1,510 per month in August, according to the school’s graduate assistant handbook.

Assuming the student works an estimated 20 hours per week, this salary would roughly translate to $19 per hour — which is $4 higher than the Illinois minimum wage.

Lopez was arrested Friday and charged with disorderly conduct and criminal damage to property.

Illinois State University Police added that Lopez was also involved in a second reported incident in which he disrupted a separate information table hosted by a student group.

University officials and campus police forces reaffirmed their commitment to protecting the community’s First Amendment rights in the wake of the Lopez scandal.

““We encourage all members of our community to learn more about free speech rights and responsibilities at Illinois State University, including constructive ways to respond when confronted with speech they may disagree with,” University Police Department Chief Aaron Woodruff said in a statement.