Seattle, WA – On Friday, April 7, members of the Progressive Student Union and others rallied to protest an event held by Turning Point USA that featured Autumn Higashi, a transphobic, anti-abortion speaker. The protest, led by PSU, disrupted the event by maintaining chants throughout its duration.

Turning Point USA started their event late, as the protest had already begun before their group fully arrived. Autumn Higashi represents Students for Life and has published repeated statements attacking reproductive rights and transgender people. Once the event started, chants could be heard from the inside. Members of Seattle Greenwave, a reproductive rights group at UW, disturbed the event inside as well.

Alisha Foster, with United Students Against Sweatshops, spoke at the protest and tied Autumn Higashi’s presence to the nationwide reactionary attack on reproductive rights. They noted that these are efforts to make “people’s personal lives more open to state-sanctioned attacks.” Clio Jensen from FRSO added, “Autumn has made it her life’s work to take away women’s and reproductive rights that we have fought so hard to protect. We stand in solidarity with students at the University of Washington in saying Autumn is not welcome in this community!”

After these speeches, chants continued. Some included “Transphobes off campus!” and “From Seattle to Spokane, reproductive rights are here to stay!”

Many students joined in the protest throughout the evening. Those passing by also showed support. Mathieu Chabaud, from PSU, emphasized that the protest was being held “to show the campus and community that anti-abortion and anti-trans speech is not welcome on campus.”

The protest and chants continued for over two hours until Turning Point USA finished their speeches. Upon exiting, that group quickly left. They were faced with a larger crowd than when they had entered, which was still energized.

#SeattleWA #TurningPointUSATPUSA

Tampa, FL – Hundreds came out to protest the right-wing, billionaire-funded “student group” Turning Point USA summit, July 23. The Turning Point summit featured a gaggle of reactionary, racist and chauvinistic speakers, not the least of whom was Donald Trump, looking to build momentum for a possible second presidential run.

Shouts of “shame!” echoed through downtown as speaker Laura Rodriguez from Tampa Bay Community Action Committee spoke about the conference’s police protection, stating, “They’re paying cops to protect those racists and bigots in our city.”

Rodriguez continued, “This city is in a housing crisis whether the mayor wants to accept it or not. Tampa is the fourth worst city in the nation for rent affordability.”

Who these cops protect couldn’t have been clearer than when the protest moved to the convention center where the hatefest was taking place. The bigots attacked, shoved, pushed down and assaulted protesters as cops looked on in tacit approval, intervening only when it looked like the reactionaries were in danger.

As David Jones of TBCAC described, “We sat there and watched them protect those conservatives while they were attacking us, because whose side are they on? Not ours.” The reactionaries attacked protesters as young as 11. After a tense standoff, protesters returned downtown.

The Tampa community took to the streets to let these hatemongers know that they and their brand of bigotry were not welcome. This event took place in the context of not just the repeal of Roe v. Wade, but also other state level attacks on women, African Americans, and LGBTQ folks, with Florida’s ban on abortion at 15 weeks, whitewashing the history of U.S.'s oppression and slavery, as well mandating LGBT discrimination in the education system with the “Don't Say Gay” bill.

It is no accident that this event took place in Florida – both of these bills have been the pet projects of Trump ally and potential successor, Governor Ron DeSantis, who was also in attendance. The virulent national agenda of those at the conference was to further roll back political and workers' rights, continue environmental devastation, enable attacks on women and LGBTQ folks, and suppress national liberation movements.

Speakers from a wide range of community groups attacked the agenda and attendees of the conference. Harrison Lundy, local activist and organizer with Democratic Socialists of America, said, “They get billions in dark money to keep poor people poor, to keep houseless people houseless, and keep birthing people from their autonomy, and so they’re scared to see us out here.”

The protest was hosted by Women’s Voices of Southwest Florida and Tampa Bay Community Action Committee, with speakers from Students for a Democratic Society, Democratic Socialists of America, and Freedom Road Socialist Organization. The same coalition of workers, oppressed nationalities, immigrants, LGBTQ folks and women, that united to deliver Donald Trump a crushing defeat in the 2020 election came out today, and is what is needed to continue the struggle to defeat the agenda of groups like TPUSA.

#TampaFL #ImmigrantRights #StudentMovement #InJusticeSystem #Labor #OppressedNationalities #WomensMovement #US #Antifascism #DonaldTrump #TurningPointUSATPUSA #TampaBayCommunityActionCommitteeTBCAC #AbortionRights

One of the key aspects in impeachment manager Jacqueline Avila’s case was that Alyssa Spencer had waited an entire month to post a very necessary document needed for student senators to perform their duties in order to remain student senators.

Furthermore, Spencer’s comments on George Floyd’s death, celebrating the destruction of his mural, and blaming chattel slavery in America on Africans in Africa continued to highlight the bigoted and anti-Black nature of her views.

Like also impeached Caitlyn Burge-Surles, Alyssa Spencer took no responsibility or accountability for her comments. At one point during the impeachment, Spencer claimed that George Floyd was being “worshiped like a God” and that she did not believe a “criminal like him” should be held in such a light. She refused to answer a question a senator posed to her regarding George Floyd being a victim of a murder, when Spencer attempted to claim she had sympathy for those murdered during the George Floyd uprising. In her closing argument, she stated “conservative Christians know the truth” on the matters she was speaking.

Several senators, themselves Christians, found incredible offense in this messaging – and fought back against the insinuation that it was her Christian beliefs that were on trial. She was found guilty unanimously of the charges, all 21 senators at this hearing agreeing she should be impeached.

A second great victory for the student movement in making sure that bigotry has no room to breathe or fester on campus, especially in student government.

#ArlingtonTX #UniversityOfTexasAtArlington #TurningPointUSATPUSA

Arlington, TX – April 4 was a great victory for the student movement at the University of Texas at Arlington. The impeachment proceedings against Caitlyn Burge-Surles, the racist Turning Point USA leader and then-president of student government, happened with over 50 people in attendance both inside and outside the student government chambers.

This impeachment was only possible due to the intense pressure that came from within the senate, and from the student movement calling for accountability last week. There was a great amount of anticipation regarding this, as this impeachment is the first within UTA student government’s history.

The leading impeachment manager, Senator Jacqueline Avila, led the case to show that Burge-Surles materially failed in her duties as student government president through her transphobia, racism and general xenophobia. Throughout the impeachment, Avila provided testimonial evidence against Burge-Surles Caitlyn Burge being running racist accounts on Twitter that called for deportations, and of course brought up the discord leaks themselves.

Burge-Surles attempted to both say that she was not in the wrong, and that her bigotry are personal opinions that should not be targeted to begin with. This argument was not received well by the student senate, which delivered a resounding unanimous vote against her in the impeachment proceedings. All 25 senators in attendance resoundingly condemned this blatant bigotry. The senators followed the sentiments of the students outside, who cheered at the news, as Senator Matthew Swingler said, “the student body reacted by taking the streets to these comments, that’s what the student body thought of this” during the discussion portion of the Impeachment.

Members of Progressive Student Union, NAACP, Black Student Association were physically present at the meeting with others watching via livestream. As Burge-Surles and others with Turning Point USA walked off, everyone gathered together to say “No bigots on our campus!”

#ArlingtonTX #LGBTQ #Antiracism #UniversityOfTexasAtArlington #TurningPointUSATPUSA

Arlington, TX – On March 24, an email went out to senators of the University of Texas at Arlington student government detailing screenshots from the Turning Point USA discord server that revealed the student government President Caitlyn Burge-Surles and student government Chief of Staff Alyssa Spencer engaging in racist, transphobic and generally bigoted rhetoric.

Some examples of these messages include a screenshot of Caitlyn at the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2021 with the caption “twins, but one of us is a woman!” Burge-Surles and Spencer spouting off about the racist conspiracy theory that George Floyd was killed by fentanyl and not Derrick Chauvin, saying that Africans had just as much complicity in chattel slavery as America, and Burge-Surles saying that in order to solve the problems of the Middle East Iran had to be bombed as a “one and done.”

These screenshots sent shockwaves both throughout student government and the larger student body. A document was created compiling the screenshots and accusations. Organizations from the NAACP, Black Student Association, African Student Association, the Progressive Student Union and the Gender & Sexuality Alliance all released statements condemning the bigotry, demanding that the school take action. At protest that following Monday, on March 28, over 50 people gathered from the various organizations to say, “No bigots on our campus!”

The protesters moved inside the building, down where the student governance office is, and re-issued the demands to the university officials. They called for the hiring of a diversity, equity, and inclusivity staff person, the impeachment and resignations of the student government officers, an investigation into the conduct of Turning Point USA, an investigation into the advisor of student government, and a statement to condemn all the bigoted statements made by Burge-Surles and Spencer.

Progressive Student Union held a week long call-in to bring these matters to the attention of the student government advisor, and the office of student conduct. As of this writing neither have officially condemned the rhetoric or begun investigations.

Right now Burge-Surles and Spencer have been impeached by the student senate and will be facing trial on Monday and Tuesday respectively. Another student government official, Thomason Clayton who is the vice president, has also been impeached regarding chauvinistic and misogynistic conduct towards women while in office.

Students across campus at the University of Texas at Arlington let it be known that bigots should not have a seat at student government.

#ArlingtonTX #LGBTQ #AntiRacism #LGBTQRights #TurningPointUSATPUSA

Tallahassee, FL – Florida State University students gathered in protest of Charlie Kirk on March 10.

FSU was the first stop for Charlie Kirk’s “Culture War Tour” sponsored by Turning Point USA (TPUSA). “FSUnite Against Kirk” was born in response to this event, a self-described student coalition dedicated to spreading a message of love and acceptance in the wake of Kirk’s purposefully divisive rhetoric.

A group of students of all walks of life attended, including six speakers representing different student organizations; Ellie Cooper, president of JStreet U; Alyssa Ackbar, State Director for Florida March for Our Lives; Sadie Cosgrove, member of College Democrats and Gender Odyssey; Delilah Pierre, graduate and organizer with the Tallahassee Community Action Committee (TCAC) and Students for a Democratic Society (SDS); and Isabela Casanova, vice president of Students for a Democratic Society.

Speeches were meant to convey a “story of self”, with each speaker voicing how rhetoric pushed by Kirk and TPUSA goes against FSU’s claims of diversity and inclusiveness and impacts them personally.

FSU is a predominantly white institution. “FSU’s decision to bring Charlie Kirk to campus sends a clear message that minorities are not valued here,” Ackbar stated. “Kirk’s rhetoric is hate-filled and targeted at minority groups that are already at a disadvantage on campus.”

Students engaged in chants such as “The students united can never be defeated!” and “Say yes to love! Say no to hate!” and waved signs with similar messages.

Organizer Chloe Ilcus also helped draft a petition that was distributed at the event urging FSU’s President John Thrasher and administration to release a statement addressing Kirk’s visit to campus.

Attendees also signed a petition by SDS aimed at bringing a more concrete accountability process for sexual abusers and rapists on FSU campus. SDS will lead a coalition of students, campus groups, area residents and community organizations in a march from campus to the state capitol on Saturday, April 11.

FSUnite Against Kirk was met with some backlash both in person and on social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook due to the nature of Kirk’s event, but organizers took such backlash in stride.

“We have to organize like this,” Cooper insisted. “Being here today allows me to see the type of community I know FSU can be.”

#TallahasseeFL #US #PeoplesStruggles #Antifascism #DonaldTrump #TallahasseeSDS #CharlieKirk #TurningPointUSATPUSA