By Long Beach State will be a stop for Campus Clash, a Turning Point USA national tour featuring founder Charlie Kirk and communications director Candace Owens Tuesday.
The seminar will be held in the University Student Union Beach Auditorium, located on the first floor of the USU. Doors will open at 6 p.m. and the event will begin at 7 p.m. Reentry will not be allowed. The audience will be video recorded.
This event requires a ticket for entry. Tickets are available for free here and are distributed on a first come, first serve basis.
The nonprofit organization has representation at over 1,300 college campuses. According to their website, the group’s mission is to identify, educate, train and organize students to promote the principles of freedom, free markets and limited government.
On the other side of the political spectrum, Long Beach Antifa has launched its movement, “Unwelcome on Campus,” to curb the efforts made by Turning Point. The organization’s website states: “We are calling for as many bodies to show up in opposition to TPUSA and converge in front of Beach Auditorium.” The movement will begin at 6 p.m. outside the Beach Auditorium.
“A lot of people who don’t like [Turning Point] are going to be maybe showing up,” said Vice President of LBSU’s Turning Point chapter, Amber Ottosen. “They did post on their Twitter that was going to be their strategy.”
She mentioned this is a common occurrence at political rallies such as this because of comments made by Kirk such as, “the left destroys everything it touches,” which was said at his seminar at George Washington University in August.
On Long Beach Antifa’s Facebook and Twitter account there is a link to their website, giving instructions about how to disrupt the meeting. This includes buying large amounts of tickets and arriving early, but they also make it very clear to respect the rules and stated, “we respect a diversity of tactics, but we do not encourage violence.”
Campus police and a private security detail will be present at the event.
“It’s important for students to come to this event, especially people who may not agree with us, people who lean more left, because it’s important to see the other side,” Ottosen said. “It’s important to understand where they’re coming from so that there can be more of a good relationship between the two sides.”
As a liberal, I can’t understand why ANTIFA got the support of fellow students I recognize in videos of the event. I went to Turning Point’s table where they wore t-shirts that said “Socialism Sucks,” and I respectfully debated them. Their biggest selling point was “ANTIFA want’s to deplatform us.”
The passion in their young naive faces made this abundantly clear. To them, conservative views are right because they have a violent enemy to fear. There but for one slight twist of an ANTIFA narrative goes these foolish hearts and minds. All ANTIFA and their supporters need to change is from deplatforming to calling out the stupidity and lies of the other side.
Why refuse a discussion? Why give them the fuel to think you are there for reasons you don’t understand. How can you settle for a narrative that your side calls them racist and their side denies it? That’s it? You don’t think it’s easy to walk these clowns into evidence that they are actually racist and naive?
That which can be destroyed by the truth, should be. Charlie Kirk and Candice Owens are perfect examples of exactly that. But if you can’t fight using the truth to your advantage, then how can you stand with such confidence that you know what the actual truth is?
Seek a better methodology than deplatforming. Try debating, or look into Street Epistemology if that’s difficult for you. You will never win with such an ineffective strategy as deplatforming.