Turning Point USA
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Turning Point USA
Abbreviation: TPUSA
Formation June 5, 2012; 8 years ago
Type: Nonprofit organization
Tax ID no.: 80-0835023
Purpose: Advocacy of conservatism on education campuses
Headquarters: Phoenix, Arizona[1]
Region served: United States; United Kingdom (TPUK)
Leader: Charlie Kirk
Revenue (2017): US$8,200,000
Website: tpusa.com; tpointuk.co.uk
Turning Point USA (TPUSA), often known as just Turning Point, is an American right-wing organization that says it advocates conservative narratives on high school, college, and university campuses.[2][3][4] The organization was founded in 2012 by Charlie Kirk and William Montgomery.[3][5] TPUSA's sister organizations include Turning Point Action, Turning Point Endowment, Students for Trump, and the Falkirk Center for Faith and Liberty at Liberty University. The group also works closely with PragerU.[6]
The organization is known for its "Professor Watchlist", a site that "exposes" professors that TPUSA claims "discriminate against conservative students and advance leftist propaganda in the classroom".[3] Academic faculty listed have reported receiving threats and harassment, including death threats, after being added, with some professors being added for any mention of race or politics, including in academic publications.[7][8] The Anti-Defamation League has reported that the group's leadership and activists "have made multiple racist or bigoted comments" and have links to extremism, including white supremacy.[3] According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, TPUSA has attempted to influence student government elections in an effort to "combat liberalism on college and university campuses."[9] The group often supports the Trump campaign, and has been subject to several controversies around their beliefs, their means of advocacy, and the organization itself.
Turning Point is funded by a cohort of conservative and right-wing donors and foundations, including Republican politicians. Between July 2016 and June 2017, the organization raised in excess of US$8.2 million. The same year, leaked records found that the group had funnelled "thousands of dollars" into student governments to elect conservatives. Donors include Home Depot co-founder Bernard Marcus, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner, Richard Uihlein, and the Donors Trust on behalf of private donors.
History
Trump speaks at the 2019 Student Action Summit
In May 2012, Bill Montgomery attended a panel discussion at Benedictine University's "Youth Empowerment Day," and was impressed with a speech by 18-year old Charlie Kirk.[10] He described Kirk's speech as “practically Reaganesque”,[11] and encouraged him to postpone college and engage full-time in political activism. In June 2012, the day after Kirk graduated from high school, he founded Turning Point USA, a section 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.[12] Montgomery became Kirk's mentor, and worked behind the scenes handling the paperwork for the organization.[11] Montgomery often described himself as the group's co-founder, although it was not an official recognition by the group or Kirk.[13]
The co-founder of conservative student group Turning Point USA, Bill Montgomery, has died from complications of the coronavirus, according to two friends of his.
Montgomery, who started it in 2012 with young conservative star Charlie Kirk, died at the age of 80 on Tuesday from Covid-19...
-- Turning Point USA co-founder dies of coronavirus-related complications: Bill Montgomery started the pro-Trump student group along with Charlie Kirk, its current leader, by Daniel Lippman and Tina Nguyen, Politico, 7/29/20
At the 2012 Republican National Convention, Kirk met Foster Friess, a Republican donor, and persuaded him to finance the organization.[11][14] Friess also serves on the organization's advisory council, alongside Ginni Thomas, wife of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.[15] Barry Russell, president and CEO of the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA), is a key advisor.[16]
Foster Stephen Friess (born April 2, 1940) is an American investment manager and prominent donor to Republican Party and Christian right causes. He unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for governor of Wyoming in the 2018 election, losing in the primary to State Treasurer Mark Gordon.
-- Foster Friess, by Wikipedia
Virginia "Ginni" Lamp Thomas (born February 23, 1957), is an American attorney and lobbyist who founded Liberty Consulting. She had previously founded the conservative advocacy group Liberty Central, and served as its president until its merger with the Patrick Henry Center for Individual Liberty. She writes columns for The Daily Caller and previously worked at The Heritage Foundation.
She is the wife of U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas. Her lobbying activities have been raised as a potential source of conflict of interest for her husband.
-- Virginia Thomas, by Wikipedia
In 2017, the loosely connected group Turning Point Canada registered a chapter in Canada.[17] In 2019, Turning Point UK was set up in the United Kingdom.[18]
Leadership and associates
Charlie Kirk
Main article: Charlie Kirk (activist)
Kirk speaking at Culture War Tour, October 22, 2019
Charlie Kirk, an evangelical Christian[19] and Republican activist,[20] was born in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights, Illinois, and raised in nearby Prospect Heights, Illinois. He is founder and president of the organization and the related Turning Point Action.
In a 2015 speech at the Liberty Forum of Silicon Valley, Kirk stated that he had applied to the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York, and was not accepted.[21] He said that "the slot he considered his went to 'a far less-qualified candidate of a different gender and a different persuasion'" whose test scores he claimed he knew.[22][23] In 2017 he told The New Yorker that he was being sarcastic when he said it,[22] and at a New Hampshire Turning Point event featuring Senator Rand Paul in October 2019 he claimed that he never said it.[23]
Kirk addressed the 2016 Republican National Convention. In an interview with Wired magazine during the convention, Kirk said that while he "was not the world's biggest Donald Trump fan," he would vote for him, and that Trump's candidacy made Turning Point's mission more difficult.[24] He spent the rest of the 2016 presidential campaign assisting with travel and media arrangements and running errands for Donald Trump Jr.[25]
Several former employees and student volunteers for Turning Point claimed they had witnessed collusion between high-ranking Turning Point employees – including Kirk himself and top advisor Ginni Thomas – and the presidential campaigns of both Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio. The interactions included Kirk coordinating via email with two officials at a pro-Cruz super PAC to send student volunteers to work for the PAC in South Carolina, as well as two students being requested by Thomas herself, via voicemail, to distribute over 200 Cruz placards in Wisconsin.[22] A former employee for Turning Point, who had been based in Florida, alleged that Turning Point had given the personal information of over 700 student supporters to an employee with Rubio's presidential campaign.[22]
In October 2016, Kirk participated in a Fox News event along with Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and Lara Trump that had a pro-Donald Trump tone. A Turning Point staff member wrote on Facebook that students who attended the event would have their expenses covered. The event led tax experts to say the organization's conduct may have violated its tax-exempt status, a charge disputed by Turning Point.[26]
William T. Montgomery
Montgomery (1940–2020), was a marketing entrepreneur and onetime participant in the Tea Party movement.[27] He invested in Kirk after he heard him speak to students at a small college, and helped him set-up Turning Point USA in 2012. He served as the organization's secretary and treasurer until April 2020.[13][27] According to two of Montgomery's friends, Montgomery died in July 2020 from complications related to COVID-19.[13]
Tyler Bowyer
Bowyer became the organizations's chief operating officer (COO) in 2017. He graduated from Arizona State University in 2012 with a bachelor’s degree. He was chairman of the Republican Party of Maricopa County, AZ, for two years before joining TPU as regional manager in 2015.[28][29][30] Bowyer also oversees Students for Trump.[31] He is a member of the Church of Latter Day Saints and part of an effort in August 2020 to launch a "Latter-day Saints for Trump" coalition.[32]
Others
In February 2019, Turning Point hired Benny Johnson as their chief creative officer.[33][34] Johnson was fired by BuzzFeed for plagiarism in 2014[33][34] and suspended by the Independent Journal Review in 2017 for publishing a conspiracy theory about Barack Obama.[35]
In May 2019, communications director Candace Owens resigned after controversial remarks she made in December 2018 were publicized and some Turning Point campus chapters called for her resignation.[36] She had said in a speech at a conservative event in London that "if Hitler just wanted to make Germany great and have things run well, okay fine. The problem is ... he had dreams outside of Germany. He wanted to globalize." She later stated that "leftist journalists" had mischaracterized her statement.[37]
According to Politico, Turning Point and Falkirk Center "ambassador" Christianné Allen is a surrogate for Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani.[38]
“Nobody can figure out who the eff she is or how she got in there,” a friend of Giuliani told POLITICO.
-- The mystery of Rudy Giuliani's spokeswoman: Meet Christianné Allen, the 20-year-old college student who speaks for President's Trump's personal lawyer, by Daniel Lippman and Tina Nguyen, 12/10/2019
Some lawmakers have suggested that Boebert, a Second Amendment advocate and past QAnon sympathizer, may have deliberately revealed Pelosi's location during the attack on Twitter. Boebert also tweeted "Today is 1776" the morning of the rally.
-- Some Democrats in Congress are worried their colleagues might kill them: House members openly accuse far-right representatives of threatening their health and safety after the Capitol riot, by Benjy Sarlin
Finances
Turning Point USA receives funding from a cohort of conservative and right-wing donors and foundations, including several Republican politicians.[39] According to the Center for Media and Democracy, donors include:
• Marcus Foundation (Bernard Marcus): $1,573,000 in 2015–18[40]
• Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner: $100,000 in 2014[41]
• Darwin Deason: $510,000 in 2014[40]
• Ed Uihlein Family Foundation (Richard Uihlein): $750,000 in 2014–18[42]
• Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation: $232,500 in 2014–18, $100,000 in 2019[40]
• Donors Trust (on behalf of a cohort of right-wing private donors): $610,000 in 2017[40]
• Thomas W. Smith Foundation: $400,000 in 2014–18[40]
• Einhorn Family Charitable Trust: $120,000 in 2014–18[40]
Turning Point USA also contributes money to its affiliated operational organizations, including Turning Point Endowment.[43]
In the 2016–17 financial year, Turning Point reported US$8.2 million in donations to the IRS, an increase from $4.3 million the previous year. The same year, expenses for the group doubled, reaching $8.3 million, most of which were employment related costs ($4.3 million).[44] In 2017, leaked records found that the group had funnelled "thousands of dollars" into student governments to elect conservative candidates.[45]
In September 2020, Turning Point USA came under fire for employing a number of teenagers, including some minors, to post disinformation about climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the integrity of postal voting leading up to the 2020 presidential election.[46]
Activities
In late 2017, the organization claimed to have representation on 1,000 campuses. Journalist Joseph Guinto could not verify the number in 2018, finding that Turning Point had 400 officially registered chapters, many of whom showed no activity on their Facebook pages.[47][12] Each of Turning Point's paid workers is supposed to meet a quota to make at least 1,500 student contacts per semester.[48] Student volunteers have several different themes for promoting conservative ideas, including "The Healthcare Games", "Game of Loans", and "iCapitalism".[49] According to The Washington Post, TPUSA centers "group membership on making provocative claims and publicly inciting outrage".[50]
Turning Point USA supports the NRA and the use of fossil fuels,[51] and opposes groups such as Black Lives Matter.[52] Turning Point USA and Turning Point UK promote the Cultural Marxism conspiracy theory and said they are working to "combat it" in universities. Kirk described universities as "islands of totalitarianism".[53][54]
Annual summits
Turning Point holds several annual national conferences, including the Teen Student Action Summit,[55] the Young Women's Leadership Summit (YWLS),[56] the Black Leadership Summit,[57] and the Young Latino Leadership Summit.[58] Turning Point provides lodging and some meals for the attendees who can also apply for travel stipends.[58] The National Rifle Association (NRA) was the headline sponsor of the YWLS in 2017 and 2018.[56] According to The New York Times, YWLS "styles itself as an alternative to a liberal culture of feminism that many Republicans characterize as oppressive" and had by 2018 "evolved into an ultra-Trumpian event complete with 'lock her up' chants and vulgar T-shirts disparaging Hillary Clinton."[56] Candace Owens, who days prior to the 2018 conference stirred controversy by saying "the entire premise of #metoo is that women are stupid, weak, and inconsequential", was greeted with a standing ovation at the conference.[56]
Involvement in 2016 presidential election
Several former employees and student volunteers for Turning Point claimed they had witnessed collusion between high-ranking Turning Point employees – including Kirk himself and top advisor Ginni Thomas – and the presidential campaigns of both Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio. The interactions included Kirk coordinating via email with two officials at a pro-Cruz super PAC to send student volunteers to work for the PAC in South Carolina, as well as two students being requested by Thomas herself, via voicemail, to distribute over 200 Cruz placards in Wisconsin.[22] A former employee for Turning Point, who had been based in Florida, alleged that Turning Point had given the personal information of over 700 student supporters to an employee with Rubio's presidential campaign.[22]
A Turning Point staff member wrote on Facebook that students who attended the event would have their expenses covered. The event led tax experts to say the organization's conduct may have violated its tax-exempt status, a charge disputed by Turning Point.[26]
Involvement in 2020 presidential election
In September 2020, Turning Point USA's affiliate Turning Point Action was reported by The Washington Post to have paid young people in Arizona, some of them minors, to produce thousands of posts with Turning Point content on their own social media accounts and on fake accounts without disclosing their relationship with Turning Point.[46][29] According to an examination by the newspaper and an independent data science specialist, the campaign was highly coordinated and included similar messaging under the instruction of Turning Point to prevent detection.[46]
In September 2020, Facebook removed 200 accounts and 55 pages as well as 76 Instagram accounts linked to Turning Point USA’s marketing agency Rally Forge. The agency had paid teenagers in Phoenix, Arizona, on Turning Point's behalf to use their own and fake accounts and pages for thousands of posts boosting Trump and disparaging Democratic candidate Joe Biden during the 2020 United States presidential election. In October 2020, Facebook banned Rally Forge permanently while Twitter suspended 262 accounts from its platform.[29][59][60] Neither organization penalized Turning Point USA or its affiliates, stating that they "could not determine the extent to which the group’s leaders were aware of the specific violations carried out on their behalf, such as the use of fake accounts."[29]
Turning Point hosted Trump reelection rallies, some of them featuring Trump surrogates and some of them Trump himself.[56][61][62]
After the election, Kirk disputed the results and denied that Trump had lost.[63] On Jan 4, 2021, Kirk announced that Turning Point would be sending more than 80 buses to a January 6, 2021, Trump rally near the White House in Washington, D.C, to protest the outcome of the election.[64][65] They actually sent seven buses with approximately 350 participants. The rally, which was attended by several thousand Trump supporters, ended in a riot and the storming of the US Capitol where Biden's win was about to be certified.[66] Kirk later deleted the tweet[64] and said on his podcast that it was "bad judgment" and "not wise" to enter the Capitol but not necessarily insurrectionist.[67]
Professor Watchlist
Main article: Professor Watchlist
First appearing on November 21, 2016, Turning Point USA also operates a website called Professor Watchlist.[68] Kirk has said the site is "dedicated to documenting and exposing college professors who discriminate against conservative students, promote anti-American values, and advance leftist propaganda in the classroom."[69] As of December 2016, more than 250 professors have been added to the site.[70] Reporting from Politico has described that the list contains many inaccuracies, and includes professors listed for things they did not exactly say or do and others listed for being rude to students or for making "clever remarks" about Trump.[71] Talking to New York Times, "Mr. Lamb", a director of constitutional enforcement and transparency at TPUSA admitted that the list was “simply aggregating” academics who had been subject to news reports, and that anyone could report a staff member without evidence.[72]
The website has been criticized for using surveillance type propaganda to manipulate ideas of truth, equality, and freedom.[72][73][74] Critics have compared Professor Watchlist to the actions of U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy, who tried to publicly identify American citizens as Communists and Communist sympathizers in the 1950s.[75][76] The New York Times wrote that it was "a threat to academic freedom,"[72] while Salon commented that it was "a sign of the stupidity of the post truth era."[77]
In May 2017, Northern Arizona University criminology professor Luis Fernandez said Turning Point surveillance of him had led to multiple threats.[78] In The Harvard Crimson, Harvard University Professor Danielle Allen also said she had been threatened after being targeted by Charlie Kirk and Turning Point.[79]
Hans-Joerg Tiede, a staff member of the American Association of University Professors said of a professor who was named for writing a book chapter on teaching mathematics to minority ethnic children: "She was inundated with death threats. She was Jewish and received antisemitic threats and threats of sexual assault. Instances like that are happening with some regularity".[80] The American Association of University Professors has also called for university administrators, governing bodies, faculty and individuals to "speak out clearly and forcefully to defend academic freedom and to condemn targeted harassment and intimidation of faculty members", with the New York Times describing the site as a threat to academic freedoms.[72]
Involvement in student government elections
Turning Point USA has been involved in influencing student government elections at a number of colleges and universities.[26][71] Universities that have been targeted by this effort have included Ohio State University, the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and the University of Maryland. These claims led to conservative candidates at the University of Maryland withdrawing from student elections after failing to report assistance from Turning Point.[81][82]
A private brochure, handed out only to Turning Point donors, highlighted the organization's alleged strategy to take over student governments at universities across the country, and included a list of every Turning Point-supported student who was elected to student government positions in the year 2017.[22] Turning Point said that it had helped more than 50 conservatives win elections to become student-body presidents.[71] When Politico looked into Turning Point's claims, it found the "success rate to be considerably overstated. Some of the students that Turning Point USA claimed to have backed flatly condemned the organization and said they'd never spoken to anyone who works for it."[71]
Denial of recognition on campus
At Drake University, Turning Point was denied recognition as an official student organization based on student senate concerns that the organization has "a hateful record," "aggressive marketing" and "an unethical privacy concern."[83]
At Hagerstown Community College, a student's attempt to start a Turning Point group was initially blocked when the school said the organization duplicated an existing group. The student's lawsuit led to the school revising its policy on student organizations, clarifying that school funded groups will be denied if they duplicate existing groups while unfunded groups face no such restriction.[84]
In February 2017, Santa Clara University's student government voted to deny recognition for Turning Point as a campus organization.[85] As of March 2017, this decision was overturned by the Vice Provost for Student Life, and Turning Point has been recognized as a registered student organization.[86]
Wartburg College's student senate voted to deny Turning Point USA recognition in late November. The chapter was forced to make changes to its constitution after initially being denied approval.[87][88]
The Executive Board of the student union of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute also voted on January 18, 2018 to deny the Turning Point USA chapter status as an officially recognized student organization.[89]
Controversies
In 2016, Turning Point at Grand Valley State University filed a lawsuit against the trustees of the school. The complainants asked the court to prohibit enforcement of GVSU's Speech Zone policy and declare it a violation of the students' 1st and 14th Amendment freedoms. They have since reached a settlement.[90]
In December 2016, Turning Point falsely quoted Nancy Pelosi in a Facebook post as saying: "Employers cutting hours is a good thing. It then gives that person time to pursue their dreams and passions."[91]
In the interview, CNN anchor Candy Crowley asked Pelosi about concerns that Obamacare would “destroy the foundation of the 40-hour work week” by incentivizing employers to keep costs down by slashing employee hours.
In part of her response, Pelosi said the Affordable Care Act was a good thing because it would give employees the freedom to switch jobs without worrying about losing health care coverage.
“This is life, healthy life, liberty, the freedom to pursue your happiness which could be follow your passion for good rather than follow your palate and be constrained by your policy,” Pelosi said. “It’s about wellness. It’s about prevention, it’s about a healthier America.”
Turning Point USA took down its false Facebook post from 2016 after being contacted by The Associated Press.
-- No evidence Pelosi said employers cutting hours is ‘a good thing’, by Ali Swenson, 9/26/20
In May 2017, DePaul University refused to allow Turning Point to post "Gay Lives Matter" posters on campus. Matt Lamb, a spokesperson for Turning Point, said that the action by DePaul was an infringement of free speech rights.[92]
In September 2017, a University of Nebraska lecturer was reassigned after she received threats stemming from a video posted online that showed her confronting a student recruiting for TPUSA.[93]
In October 2017, several Turning Point student members at Kent State University conducted a protest against campus "safe space" culture, which involved members dressing up in diapers as babies.[94][95] Following widespread ridicule on social media, the president of the chapter, Kaitlin Bennett, resigned,[96] and the student-run publication KentWired.com reported that the Turning Point chapter at Kent State had disbanded.[97]
In February 2018, the University of South Florida chapter of TPUSA was dissolved when it was discovered that their president, Aida Vazquez-Soto, was working with a pro-Palestinian group. Vazquez-Soto said 'Something is clearly wrong with an organization that felt that somehow by silencing me they could deal with the problem at hand.'[98]
In June 2018, conservative radio talk show host Joe Walsh resigned from the TPUSA board because Charlie Kirk was too closely tied to Donald Trump. Walsh said that "It’s so important to not be beholden to politicians, but to be beholden to the issues ... When Charlie went to work for Trump, that crossed that line. You can’t advance Trump and advance these issues."[99]
In October 2018, the Miami New Times reported that TPUSA members at Florida International University shared jokes "about watching underage cartoon pornography and deporting Latina women, and, in the most repugnant case, share racist 'Pepe the Frog' memes showing Syrian men raping a white Swedish woman at gunpoint."[100]
Chats Show FIU Turning Point USA Members Sharing Racist Memes and Rape Jokes
by Jerry Iannelli
Miami New Times
October 16, 2018 | 7:48AM
TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk (left) and the group's gross FIU chat (right).Gage Skidmore via Flickr / TPUSA FIU
Back in 2017, New Times obtained screenshots of gross chats among Florida International University's Campus Republicans. They joked about the Charlottesville neo-Nazi attack last year and threatened to "call ICE" on fellow, undocumented students who were begging Congress to pass the DREAM Act.Chats Show FIU College Republicans Joking About Charlottesville, Deporting Classmates
by Joel Franco
Miami New Times
November 10, 2017 | 12:03PM
IT'S GETTING HARD TO SEE IN THIS BLIZZARD
LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THESE SNOWFLAKES
6:31 P.M.
College Republicans The Best Party on Campus
Update 4:30 p.m.: FIU says in a statement it's aware of the chat and investigating it: "At FIU, we value diversity and work hard to make sure all of our students feel safe in an environment conducive to academic and career success. The sentiments expressed in the chat do not represent the university community. Our office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution will review the matter immediately and conduct any necessary investigations."
Thursday morning, dozens of Florida International University students walked out of class in protest. They urged the government to protect young immigrants who might be kicked out of the United States by the Trump administration. While they were demonstrating, their classmates in the FIU College Republicans were cracking jokes about trying to get the students deported. The exchange happened in a private group chat provided to New Times.
"Call ICE," one of the young Republicans urged. "So they get ICE'd."
"I was about to [call ICE]," another student wrote. "But I don't have their names."
The screenshots included also mention of buying semiautomatic weapons, grenades, and bump stocks and humorously refer to Charlottesville, where one protestor was killed by a white supremacist. The screencaps, which were shared by a participant in the chats who wishes to remain anonymous, are the latest headache for a campus already reeling from a leaked group chat from the campus' Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, which shows the frat members joking about rape and hazing. Those chats have led to the frat's suspension and an investigation.
"The discourse being exchanged in the FIU College is unacceptable," the anonymous tipster says in describing
the motivation for sharing screenshots of the chat. "The dehumanization of our fellow students is repulsive."
An FIU spokesperson declined to discuss the chats. One member of the College Republicans says the group's leaders have addressed the members who made the jokes and asked them to stop.
"It's not the central ones or the main ones in the club. It's more some of the fringe people who have more extreme views," says Connor Acosta, who says he was involved in the chats discussing weapons but not the offensive jokes about Charlottesville. "They discussed it recently at a meeting and they said to curb it. It's definitely being addressed in the club. It's gotten a bit better since then."
On their Facebook page, the FIU College Republicans boast of an award for the "best College Republicans Chapter Ever!" They are a chapter of the College Republican National Committee, founded in 1892, and have hosted numerous local candidates, including Jeb Bush and the recent failed state Senate candidate Jose Felix Diaz.
The screenshots of the chat — which is called "FIU CRs" and includes numerous cell-phone numbers — show a photo of students on campus holding signs in support of the DREAM Act while others discussed how they could try to deport the demonstrators.
Call ICE!
12:19 PM
Just passed by, surprised as to how quiet of a protest it is
12:19 PM
Call ICE
12:21 PM
So they get ICE'd
12:21 PM
They recently started to chant
12:22 PM
Unafraid, Unapologetic" ... If you're undocumented, you're here illegally ... BUILD THE WALL, AND DEPORT ALL ILLEGALS!
That's my instagram story lol
12:25 PM
Bro we need a group of people and they all got to make cardboard walls and we should line up in front of them
12:25 PM
Bro we need a group of people and they all got to make cardboard walls and we should line up in front of them
This is GENIUS!
12:25 PM
Just passed by, surprised as to how quiet of a protest it is
12:19 PM
Call ICE
12:21 PM
So they get ICE'd
12:21 PM
They recently started to chant
12:22 PM
Call ICE
I was about to ... but I don't have their names. LOL...
TBH though they're gonna need some ICE to cool down with this heat!
12:22 PM
And thanks for inviting me
12:22 PM
Hahahaha
12:22 PM
I know
12:23 PM
They need the build wall
12:23 PM
The students who walked out of class were demanding new legislation to protect those seeking legal status in the United States after Donald Trump's executive order a few months ago began the process of ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA).
The insensitive remarks in the group chat did not stop there. Chats from an earlier date involved a meme showing the car that mowed down protesters in Charlottesville in August. The caption read, "It's getting hard to see in this blizzard. Look at the size of these snowflakes."
In separate texts, three different students discussed firearms. "I guess I should get a bump stock before it gets banned," an unidentified student said in reference to the gun attachment used by the shooter in Las Vegas who killed 59 and injured more than 500 in October. One student even brought up grenade launchers when discussing attachments for an AR-15.
... sight, and a pmag
8:53 PM
FedArm AR-15 Mil-Spec Rifle .223/5.56 16" Barrel, Free Fleat Keymod Rail - $399.00
8:53 PM
This free floating is at 400$ I'm looking into it
8:43 PM
Wait what does it say about the mag?
8:50 PM
Detachable no fucking shit Sherlock
8:50 PM
No it says that among the many accessories you can buy for an AR-15, that you can get a 40mm grenade launcher
8:51 PM
What guns don't have detachable mags?
8:51 PM
I mean after spending $$$ on licenses
8:51 PM
Lol
8:51 PM
And $1k on grenades good luck
8:51 PM
Why cant you just be normal?
THE LEFT
6:30 PM
Just sent this to the wrong group chat fmi
6:30 PM
IT'S GETTING HARD TO SEE IN THIS BLIZZARD
LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THESE SNOWFLAKES
6:31 PM
19 year old college student:
Another chat shows a student dismissing the threat of white racist groups and suggesting that Black Lives Matter is somehow a greater threat:
I have less of a problem with the handful of KKK nutjobs than I do with the nationwide organized BLM movement
1:13 PM
Now, New Times has received disgusting chats from another FIU conservative group, Turning Point USA (TPUSA) — a far-right, college-focused group led by commentator Charlie Kirk. Members joke about watching underage cartoon pornography and deporting Latina women, and, in the most repugnant case, share racist "Pepe the Frog" memes showing Syrian men raping a white Swedish woman at gunpoint.
In one section, a prominent group member apparently had to warn others not to use racial slurs or reference neo-Nazis too often. One group member asked how "edgy" the person's "meme game" can be in the group chat, titled "TPUSA FIU Fun." A prominent group member responded by telling the user to "avoid using the n word and don't reference Richard Spencer too much and don't Jew hate ... all the time." [sic]
Spencer is, of course, an avowed white nationalist who regularly quotes Nazi slogans and advocates the creation of a "white ethno-state."
Just avoid saying the n word and don't reference Richard spencer too much and don't Jew hate just cause all the time
12:33 PM
Representatives for the group did not return messages from New Times yesterday. (A Facebook message was "read.") Nor did the group's regional field director in Florida, Driena Sixto, respond to New Times. She also participated in the chats, the WhatsApp screencaps show.
Turning Point USA was founded in 2012 by square-headed right-wing commentator Charlie Kirk. Kirk has since brought on pundit Candace Owens and has repeatedly held events with Donald Trump Jr. (One was held last week at Nova High School in Davie, but Trump Jr. wound up not attending.) Trump Jr. also wrote the foreword to Kirk's recently released book. (Kirk's text has received uniformly negative reviews — even from other conservatives). But TPUSA is perhaps most famous for the antics of its Kent State University chapter — in 2017, TPUSA activists at the Ohio school wore adult diapers and sucked pacifiers to parody "crybaby" liberals.
Of course, the internet has made fun of the group's members nonstop ever since then for making themselves look like morons.
Although Kirk and TPUSA formally denounce racism, white nationalism, and the alt-right, lower-level TPUSA members keep getting outed as racists or fans of prominent neo-Nazis. In 2017, the New Yorker's Jane Mayer reported the group had possibly coordinated illegally with prominent conservative campaigns and had also "fostered an atmosphere that is hostile to minorities." The magazine obtained internal screenshots showing former national field director, Crystal Clanton, stating "I hate black people. Like fuck them all... I hate blacks. End of story.” The Huffington Post also reported that TPUSA replaced Clanton with a woman named Shialee Grooman, who has used all kinds of racial and homophobic slurs online (including the N-word) and once tweeted the sentence "I love making racist jokes."
And, earlier this year, the head of Turning Point's diaper-wearing Kent State chapter quit — and wrote in a scathing op-ed that one of TPUSA's regional managers was "liking tweets from notorious Charlottesville attendee and white nationalist icon, James Allsup." (For what it's worth, many political commentators, from Leftists to even the staunchly conservative National Review, blame campus-conservative groups for functioning as alt-right breeding-grounds.)
FIU groups have been outed before for gross, sexist private chats. In 2017, New Times obtained Tau Kappa Epsilon frat members' texts making rape jokes and sharing nude pictures of women without their consent. FIU temporarily suspended all Greek life on campus while it investigated the matter. Then, New Times obtained College Republicans' conversations joking about the Charlottesville neo-Nazi murder of Heather Heyer. FIU's College Republican vice-president then quit the group.
Much of the FIU Turning Point chat reads like a bunch of young idiots trying (and miserably failing) to sound tough and edgy to impress one another. A source with knowledge of the FIU chat said that the "TPUSA FIU Fun" chatroom is used to announce the group's meetings and official business, while also serving as an outlet for group members to talk about campus life and share jokes and memes. But it turns out many members find some pretty heinous stuff funny.
Most notably, one user shared a Pepe the Frog meme showing Syrian men raping a white, Swedish woman at gunpoint. The "joke," if it can be called that, was simply that Sweden is letting in too many Syrian refugees, and that the Syrian men are going to pay the Swedes back by raping their women. It's basically about the Swedes getting literally "cucked."
"But it's awful in Europe cause 'WeRe DiVeRsE," the poster wrote, using ~ironic~ punctuation to poke fun at the concept of diversity.
TPUSA FIU Fun
But it's awful in Europe cause 'WeRe DiVeRsE"
REFUGEES WELCOME
12:43 PM
History repeats itself
12:44 PM
Let's hope the next Reconquista doesn't last 774 years.
12:46 PM
(In right-wing internet parlance, Pepe the Frog is a meme character popular with internet neo-Nazis, and the term "cucked," which comes from "cuckolding," references white people letting nonwhites infect their culture. It's as gross and racist as it sounds.)
"History repeats itselff," one user then responded.
Another user then referenced the period from roughly 718 to 1492 when white Christians violently pushed Muslims and Arabs out of the Iberian peninsula in what is now Spain.
"Let's hope the next Reconquista doesn't last 774 years," the user wrote. The term — which translates to "reconquest" — is often referenced in white-nationalist and neo-Nazi circles online.
In another part of the chat, a different user made a blunt joke about deporting brown women as part of a Halloween costume.
"I want to dress like an ICE officer in assless chaps" and "aggressively grapple Latinas and deport them," the post read, even though some members of the group appear to identify as Latina.
TPUSA FIU Fun
@Honey it's just wild cause colleges banned sexy Halloween costumes but now all of a sudden you can do it at virgin's caf...
Would be a Gopnik be sexy
3:22 PM
squat on my face
3:22 PM
HAHAHA
3:23 PM
I want to dress up as an ICE officer in assless chaps
3:24 PM
Pffft
squat on my face
LMFAO
3:24 PM
Aggressively grapple Latinas and deport them
3:25 PM
Some other group members even joked about watching cartoon porn involving underage girls. Many white nationalists and other members of the online alt-right, including Richard Spencer, have loudly professed their love for Japanese anime. One FIU TPUSA member took things a step further by posting a meme referencing "loli hentai," a type of Japanese pornography that, according to Urban Dictionary at least, depicts underage, prepubescent girls having sex:
TPUSA FIU Fun
Remember in snake eater where snake got an impromptu testicular exam lol
2:36 PM
0/10 put it on switch and PC
No us
2:36 PM
when someone asks if you like loli hentai
The law requires that I answer "no"
2:56 PM
Other chats showed TPUSA chat members joking about "infiltrating" other groups on campus, especially leftist or progressive organizations. One user joked about trying to get a progressive campus activist expelled.
According to FIU's own college magazine, PantherNOW, TPUSA created a chapter at the school in 2017. Field rep Driena Sixto, who had already graduated from the school by then, told the paper she had helped bring Turning Point to FIU to change the allegedly "liberal narrative" on college campuses. (It's worth noting that data show the alleged "anti-conservative crisis" at colleges appears to be overblown, and that, if anything, leftist professors actually get "persecuted" more often than right-leaning ones.)
An FIU spokesperson declined to immediately comment on the posts. But, during a similar controversy with the Campus Republicans, the university stressed racist-murder jokes did "not represent the university community."
Jerry Iannelli is a former staff writer for Miami New Times from 2015 to March 2020. He graduated with honors from Temple University. He then earned a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University.
In November 2018, Fox News correspondent Rick Leventhal cut off Turning Point USA's Anna Paulina after she compared former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to the disease herpes.[101]
During October and November 2019, Turning Point USA launched the 'Culture War' college tour of speaking events with appearances from many conservatives such as Donald Trump Jr., Lara Trump and Kimberly Guilfoyle. These events were frequently targeted by homophobic and antisemitic members of the alt- and far-right who consider TPUSA to be too mainstream and not sufficiently conservative. Concerted efforts were made by this group to ask leading questions during the Q&A sections on controversial topics such as Israel and LGBTQ issues in order to challenge the extent of the speakers' views. These members are called Groypers.[102]