Violent Student Protesters Shut Down Tomi Lahren Speech at University of New Mexico
Quote:Fox News personality Tomi Lahren visited the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque Thursday to speak to the campus Turning Point USA chapter but had to be escorted to safety by New Mexico State Police after a violent mob shoved into the Student Union, past campus police protecting the doors to the auditorium where she was speaking, and nearly into the auditorium itself while chanting, “F**k Tomi Lahren! F**k Turning Point!”
Lahren, her father, and several members of the TPUSA chapter were barricaded in a back room in the student union for 45 minutes while campus police called in reinforcements from the Albuquerque Police Department and the New Mexico State Police, according to an Instagram Live video Lahren posted shortly after getting to safety.
Turning Point officials confirmed Lahren’s account and provided video from TPUSA chapter members exclusively to RedState.
Lahren’s appearance had been advertised by the group for weeks, and, as usually happens, the anti-free speech/anti-free thought crowd made their displeasure known and threatened to protest. In her video Lahren said she’d heard rumblings about a protest, but thought it would be the normal.
Usually it’s small, it’s manageable, just some rowdy people, disgruntled liberals, you know, the standard.
So, a protest started. We were in a room. They were outside, of course, screaming and chanting the F word, disgusting things. And then it turned violent. They started pushing the officers that were guarding the door, trying to bust in the door. I don’t know what they were trying to do to me and to the others that were there listening to the speech, but they tried to bust through the doors. Then at one point they almost made it through the door….
Not nearly enough officers were present. I don’t think anybody knew it was going to be this bad. But then somebody pulled the fire alarm. Alarms were going off everywhere and we’re all basically barricaded in this room, can’t leave. I was escorted away for my safety by officers. Then we heard reports of shots fired. apparently no shots were fired, so thank goodness for that.
Lahren’s concern was not for herself, but for the students.
University of New Mexico, apparently they don’t care. They don’t care that students’ lives were endangered, guests lives were endangered. Like, never mind me. You do have your tuition-paying students that were in that room to listen to a speaker, and they were in danger. We were all in danger.
As this compilation of videos from UNM Turning Point USA chapter members shows, campus police outside the auditorium were not able to keep the angry mob from nearly bursting in.
Lahren continued:
Then the state police had to be called. The emergency unit had to be called in because that’s how bad it got. We were barricaded in the kitchen for probably about a half an hour to 45 minutes. My dad was with me, and with the TPUSA people, a couple of the college people, barricaded in a back room having to wait for State Police to get there to be escorted away and get out of this city.
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Protests are one thing, but the unbridled anger and complete disrespect for campus officials shown by the protesters (I won’t characterize them all as students, as some reporters covering the event have said that community groups worked to organize the protests along with campus groups) take it to the next level. As Lahren says:
I am dumbfounded that people could be so disgusting, so violent, so evil to their fellow classmates. Never mind me, if you don’t like me… but the fact that they were doing that and threatening violence and trying to not only push, shove officers, but also, you know, hurt their fellow classmates, that’s disgusting and disturbing on a whole other level. And what’s even worse is that these people feel that they can get away with that. They are so emboldened because they know that the university isn’t going to do anything.
They had to call in Albuquerque Police and New Mexico State Police. That’s how bad it got. But the university doesn’t give support to their officers, doesn’t make sure that people that are at the university are safe.
But if somebody did get hurt, that is on — certainly on the head of University of New Mexico, who quite frankly doesn’t care, apparently, about their students if they’re conservative….I am so disgusted.
Protesters apparently thought that since Lahren’s speech was on the first day of Hispanic Heritage Month, that it was planned as some sort of slight to Hispanic and “indigenous” students. This guy, formerly a member of the student newspaper, decided to infiltrate the speech as some kind of badge of honor.
And this student, at her first protest as an adult — wow, what a great milestone! — somehow thought that chanting “Black Lives Matter” was the perfect way to get the message that “Tomi Lahren is not welcome on indigenous land” across.
Compared to these students shouting either “F**k Tomi Lahren” or “F**k Turning Point,” though, the students around Victoria were extremely well-spoken.
This self-described organizer bragged that they “kicked Tomi Lahren out of UNM campus and it took less than an hour of disruption” but seemed to add a bit of a threat. “Get your a** back to the airport tonight. F**k you. Go home. You are not wanted here, you racist f**k. Get out!”
UNM student and Turning Point USA supporter Zach Moore said:
As a student and long-time supporter of Turning Point USA, I am saddened at how this event turned out. For the safety of our speaker, club officers, and attendees our event was cut short after a group of protesters attempted to violently enter the room. I am all about free speech, but threatening a group of fellow students and individuals is unacceptable.
I would like to thank the University of New Mexico Police Department for protecting all attendees at the event, as well as Albuquerque Police Department, New Mexico State Police, and Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office. This event showed the power Turning Point USA at UNM has in affecting a deep blue state as New Mexico in fighting for what we believe in.
Predictably, here is the headline from the Daily Lobo.
Quote:ADVERTISEMENT
Political commentator Tomi Lahren was set to speak at the University of New Mexico on Thursday night, but her speech was shut down by far-left activists. The event was canceled after Lahren was barricaded in a back room for 45 minutes, and she left under police escort.
Almost 100 people gathered on the campus in Albuquerque to protest the event. These activists made their way into the building and outside the room where Lahren was speaking. University of New Mexico Police and New Mexico State Police were also on campus for the event, KRQE reported.
Video from the event protestors chanting "F*ck Tomi Lahren", many of them carrying signs including one that read "Jesus was Black." Later, protestors can be heard chanting "shut it down" as event organizers were forced to hold the doors shut. Inside the event, attendees chanted "USA."
Damage to the building could be seen in photos shared with The Post Millennial after the event.
"State police had to be called to my speech tonight at UNM," Lahren posted on Instagram, "after rapid and repulsive liberals tried to break down the door and attack me and the speech-goers. Apparently, University of New Mexico is unbothered by the abhorrent and violent behavior of their students."
"Thank you to all the patriots who stood strong and supported me despite the animals outside," Lahren wrote. "Thank you to the law enforcement officers who got me out safely. Thank you to @turningpointunm for hosting me," she wrote. The event was hosted by Turning Point USA, a conservative student group that organizes, educates, and trains students to promote the principles of freedom, free markets, and limited government.
"I came here to speak in Albuquerque University of New Mexico," Lahren said. "I know that there was a protest planned, usually when I speak there's a protest planned and usually it's small, it's manageable, just some rowdy people, disgruntled liberals, you know, the standard."
"That's not what happened," she continued. "A protest started, we were in a room, they were outside of course, screaming and chanting the F word, discussing things, and then it turned violent."
Protesters "started pushing the officers that were guarding the door, trying to bust in the door," she said.
"I don't know what they were trying to do to me and to the others that were there listening to the speech, but they tried to bust through the doors," she said.
"Then at one point, they almost made it through the door, Lahren added. "Officers having to barricade it… not nearly enough officers were present. I don't think anybody knew it was gonna be this bad. But then somebody pulled the fire alarm. The alarms are going off everywhere. We were all basically barricaded in this room."
Lahren described being escorted away for her safety by officers. She said that officials at the University of New Mexico "don't care that students' lives were endangered and guest lives were endangered."
Lahren said, "You do have your tuition-paying students that were in that room to listen to a speaker, and they were in danger. We were all in danger. Then the state police had to be called, the emergency unit had to be called in because that's how bad it got. We were barricaded in the kitchen for probably about a half an hour to 45 minutes."
Post Millennial editor-at-large Andy Ngo found Antifa and far-left accounts celebrating the protest which cut the event short on social media.
The local Daily Lobo claimed that "Multiple students of color were denied entry at the Turning Point USA-sponsored 'Talking With Tomi' event at the University of New Mexico Student Union Building's Ballroom B on Thursday, Sept. 15."
They claimed that those students, who arrived with signs, chants, and mouths full of curse words, "did have tickets but were turned away by Turning Point staff, according to Tyler Jacobs, one of the UNM students who was denied. Multiple witnesses at the event reported seeing students being denied entry."
The video shows what those student activists were intending to do once they attained entry, which was to shut down the event. This they were able to do without having to attend the speech.
"Simultaneously, hundreds of students and community members gathered inside and outside the SUB to protest the event. Protestors set up microphones from which they gave speeches during the event. No single group claimed to have been the sole organizer of the protest," The Daily Lobo reported.
Activist students intend to continue protesting TPUSA events when they can. "Students at the event, including speaker Juile Bettencourt, said that they will continue to protest at Turning Point-hosted events on campus and their presence at UNM," The Daily Lobo reported.
The outlet claimed that "the protesters remained nonviolent through the duration of their demonstration."
Lahren placed the blame for the incident on the university. "I'm hoping that nobody got hurt tonight on either side. But if somebody did get hurt, that is on certainly on the head of the University of New Mexico," she said.
"I am so disgusted, but I'm also so thankful for TPUSA at the University of New Mexico," noting that those who organized the event "are gonna get a lot of backlash. I know that they're gonna have to deal with a lot of their disgusting rabid banty classmates and good for them for holding through their guns, sticking strong, um, being conservative and being independent-minded people and patriots through and through."
Lahren added, "I'm hoping that everybody else that was at that speech attended that speech got home safely." She went on to say that "We can't let them intimidate us. We can't let them and their discussing behavior keep us from being patriotic individuals and we must always rise above and never stoop to their level."
"I told everyone that was at my speech, please," Lahren said, "don't tussle with these people. They want you to fight back. They want you to react, do not give them the benefit of that. Do not give them that satisfaction of your reaction. Just stay above it all. Take the high road, be the decent people that you all are."
The University of New Mexico released a statement in response to the event, saying "The University of New Mexico is committed to the principles of free speech and values its role as a public square for debate, a marketplace of ideas, and a place to test and challenge competing viewpoints and opinions. In this context, allowing speakers invited by a student organization on campus in no way implies an endorsement of the content of their speeches or their opinions. And those who disagree with the ideas expressed are encouraged to respectfully voice their perspectives."
Erica Rodriguez, TPUSA's UNM Chapter President said in a statement that there was no warning from the university that "it would get crazy" or that protestors would "even be present." She said that "building management and security said protesters wouldn't even be allowed to come into the building."
Quote:Following Antifa radicals’ attack on Tomi Lahren that forced her Turning Point USA event at the University of New Mexico to be tormented following a violent leftist mob breaching the building, UNM released a response.
“We are deeply disappointed in the actions of those individuals who intentionally chose to disrupt a scheduled speaker and infringed upon the rights of the speaker and those who attended the event to listen and engage, vandalized University property and unlawfully pulled a fire alarm,” the university said in a statement reported by Breitbart News.
UNM noted that the extent of the damage included “A hole” that was “found in the drywall of one of the Student Union Building walls.”
“The University of New Mexico is committed to the principles of free speech and values its role as a public square for debate, a marketplace of ideas, and a place to test and challenge competing viewpoints and opinions. In this context, allowing speakers invited by a student organization on campus in no way implies an endorsement of the content of their speeches or their opinions. And those who disagree with the ideas expressed are encouraged to respectfully voice their perspectives,” UNM wrote.
The university continued, “Additionally, several UNM departments will be meeting to discuss improving the environment in which a speaker’s right to conduct their scheduled programming is ensured along with the public’s right to free speech, especially when our facilities are in use for multiple events at the same time.”
Following this statement, the First Amendment-focused group Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) wrote, “FIRE commends UNM for getting it right — unlike many universities in the past,” adding:
UNM took action — calling in more security, barricading the door, and ensuring Lahren finished her speech — before escorting Lahren out for safety reasons. The institution also made clear that it will not tolerate students who infringe on others’ expressive rights regardless of any legitimate complaints regarding the speaker or host organization.
In keeping with the First Amendment, UNM must make sure to limit any sanctions it may impose to those who disrupted the event, and not punish non-disruptive and non-violent protesters who remained outside expressing their own First Amendment rights. So long as it does so, UNM’s actions here should serve as a model to other institutions that will face the substantial disruption of events in the future.
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[NEWS] Violent Student Protesters Shut Down Tomi Lahren Speech at University of New Mexico
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