Harry Potter, is that you?
A man dressed in a cape and a wizard hat grabbed an American flag and went on a cane-swinging rampage at a Turning Point USA event at the University of Texas Tyler on Tuesday. Because apparently that’s just a normal Tuesday for the American left now.
To be fair, this guy has more cojones than the entire base of our GOP who failed to get the SAVE Act passed, more gusto than the Republicans who supported John Thune, and probably a sack twice the size of John Fetterman. But I’m just mad we lost midterms and have spineless people representing us, but that’s another story for another day.
TPUSA Frontlines, the conservative group’s on-the-ground journalism operation, captured the whole thing on video. The bespectacled attacker first ripped the Stars and Stripes off its stand, then started hurling expletives at students hosting TPUSA’s Pick Up the Mic event, an open-dialogue initiative created in honor of assassinated Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk. His big opening line? “Back the f, k up. Fascist pieces of s, t,” delivered while flipping someone off. Real sophisticated political discourse there, Gandalf.
He then started swinging his cane at people, striking one man in the legs. “That’s assault,” a woman at the scene shouted, which, yes, correct. TPUSA campus attack video That observation turned out to be legally accurate, because the wizard was restrained, handcuffed, and taken into custody. As police cuffed him, he apologized for his outburst and said he felt “backed into a corner,” according to Mediaite. He was backed into a corner at a college free-speech event. Tough crowd.
UT Tyler President Julie Philley confirmed in a statement that three people were attacked total, and made clear the man is not a student at the university. “Everyone has the right to free speech and violence will not be tolerated,” she said. The attacker faces a criminal trespassing charge.
Rep. Nathaniel Moran (R-TX), who just won re-election in Texas‘ 1st congressional district, praised police for moving fast. “The First Amendment protects your right to speak, even to protest. It does not protect assaulting people you disagree with,” Moran said. “Violence has no place on any campus, and it doesn’t represent East Texas. Thank you to UT Tyler police for acting quickly.” See, that’s how adults talk.
This is the second high-profile attack on conservatives at a campus event in barely a week. Just days ago, University of Michigan student Temulun Togochog attacked conservative influencer Lizzy Benichou during a Liberty Under Fire USA tour stop on the Ann Arbor campus. Benichou said her attacker had been “identified as a supporter of Abdul El-Sayed,” the Muslim Democratic candidate who just won Michigan’s Senate race in the midterms. Togochog now faces a felony charge of assaulting, resisting, or obstructing a police officer, plus two misdemeanor assault charges.
So to recap: two conservative campus events, two violent attacks, one week. The wizard-hat guy in Texas is facing a trespassing charge, the Michigan attacker faces a felony, and the left is still out here lecturing everyone else about the dangers of political violence. Both cases are moving forward through the legal system, and law enforcement at both schools has been credited with responding quickly. The costumes may change, but the unhinged behavior is remarkably consistent.
Watch the video:
