For almost a decade, the Higher Education Inquirer has covered Turning Point USA (TPUSA) on American campuses. Led by 31-year-old Charlie Kirk, this well-funded pro-Trump youth group has used a variety of tactics to target professors and incite violence in its attempt to gain right wing control over university campuses, while claiming to be victims of the Left. Our efforts to expose Kirk and his growing Turning Point empire have gained insufficient traction as the Trump administration continues its war on intellectuals and on social justice. And we are saddened to see well-meaning resistance groups take the bait. We implore university professors and university activists to educate students and their communities inside and outside the ivory tower walls about the many strategies of nonviolence resistance. The Right wing has already taken much of Left's playbook, which means new methods of resistance are required. And with President Trump in power again, the Right has even more power. Fighting fascism requires enormous skill, not masks and fists.
By ‘inciting violence,’ do you mean that they are responsible when they get attacked because the attackers hated their message so much? I’m not aware of Turning Point using physical violence or endorsing it, but their leader was just murdered and a meeting shut down violently this week by violent attack.
ReplyDeleteCharlie Kirk did support the use of force using military and police. But as far as actual violence, TPUSA only used racist, sexist, anti-intellectual, and homophobic language to anger folks who almost always showed restraint.
DeleteCharlie did advocate for the use of police because almost always, his events were protested by anti-free speech people and organizations like your own that constantly threatened violence to him and his organization. He needed security and he wanted his events to be a safe place for those who attended. Also, as a condition to hold these events, most universities could not handle or demanded that TPUSA provide, extra security due to the violence and threats posed by those who do not want anyone to be allowed to speak if they disagree with their opinion.
DeleteAnti-free speech people? Sources?
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