Conservative Group Turning Point USA Boots Student After ‘White Power’ Video
A viral video in which members of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas chapter of the conservative group Turning Point USA used racial slurs and said “white power” has resulted in the expulsion from the organization of the student in the video.
As reported by the website It’s Going Down, Riley Grisar, the leader of TPUSA’s UNLV chapter, is seen along with an unidentified female companion giving the “ok” hand gesture, saying “f**k the [n-word],” and saying “white power” repeatedly. Classmates quoted by the site on Twitter say that they think the video was taken during the presidential election when Grisar was still in high school.
Once the video and story about it went viral, TPUSA announced that Grisar had been removed from the organization.
“As soon as the video in question came to the attention of Turning Point USA staff, we swiftly and permanently removed the student from any current or future involvement with our organization,” the group said in a statement on Twitter. The group went on to call the comments “abhorrent, un-American and disqualifying.”
This is not the first controversy involving racism and Turning Point USA, an organization led by Charlie Kirk that has taken on a high profile in the Trump era.
The New Yorker reported in December of 2017 that black former employees of Turning Point believed that they were discriminated against on the basis of race, and quoted text messages from Crystal Clanton, a former higher-up in the organization.
“I hate black people. Like f**k them all.?.?. I hate blacks. End of story.”
The New Yorker story also alleged possible campaign finance violations by the group. Clanton was fired from the organization, but her replacement was also accused of racist social media messages.
TPUSA
More news from #MAGA Trash World ..
".. features a teenage boy and a girl flashing “white power” signs while yelling slogans like “F*ck the n*ggers!” and “White power!” https://t.co/cKsFNNOUy1
— Republican Swine (@RepublicanSwine) May 10, 2019
Candace Owens, who was Turning Point’s communications director until her recent departure from the organization, drew fire earlier this year for controversial comments about Adolf Hitler.
Owens, who is African American, stated during a speech this year, per CNN, that “Globalism is what I don’t want. So when you think about — whenever we say nationalism, the first thing people think about — at least in America — is Hitler. You know, he was a national socialist, but if Hitler had just wanted to make Germany great and have things run well, OK, fine. The problem is that he wanted — he had dreams outside of Germany.”
Representative Ted Lieu of California played a video of Owens’ comments last month while she was testifying before the House Judiciary Committee.
