I have had no direct involvement with Turning Point USA (TPUSA). What I know is what I have read in the San Marcos Record and learned from research. It seems that TPUSA stands against virtually every value I cherish. It is racist, anti-feminist, anti-Muslim, anti-Black Lives Matter, anti-immigrant; it targets professors it doesn’t like for their imputed political views by placing their names on its Professor Watchlist; it is closely aligned with the NRA and the Trumpian wing of the Republican Party (which is more like its heart and soul, rather than an appendage at this point); it is funded primarily by right-wingers; it makes false statements to the public directly and through social media; it associates with violent white supremacists.
TPUSA engages in provocative tactics, as well as in conventional political activity. It falsely posts quotes of prominent political figures on Facebook. It works to take over student government at colleges and universities, so far unsuccessfully. At Kent State University, TPUSA supporters dressed up in diapers to ridicule the campus “safe space” culture. It supported the presidential candidacies of Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio.
There are reports that TPUSA agents engage in physical harassment and disrupting classes. Neither activity is protected free speech. Everything else I have described, all of which I disagree with, and some of which seems execrable, is protected free speech.
