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This report back from the Chicago GDC details the exploits of several groups of anti-authoritarians and antifascists who crashed a regional Turning Point USA event only to find that it seems numbers have turned downward for the far-Right industrial complex.

Cover photo via @parsonshanged

Despite the rain putting a damper on our Black Bloc Dance Party, Chicago’s General Defense Committee (GDC) managed to create quite the disruption at the first day of Turning Point USA’s Midwest Regional Conference at the Donald E Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL. They stationed themselves out in the Chicago suburbs, hoping to fly under our radar after we kicked out Trump and shut down Milo twice when they dared try to hold events in our city.

“I screamed in their faces not to touch me, which scared them off us for a few moments. Then one dark-haired young man in a red MAGA hat came up and attempted to snatch my sign out of my hand, I screamed deep as hell and they backed off.”

This morning, comrades came in two waves. I was in the first and we had about 10 people total. Our group was between the ages of 23 and 70. We were a mix of Chicago GDC, DSA Libertarian Socialist Caucus, Milwaukee IWW, and antifascists. We bloc’d up and walked through the elevated walkway with our picket signs, all anti-capitalist and anti-racist messages written on the back of outdated Toys for Tots posters stapled to recycled wood sticks.

We strolled in to the conference center like we owned the place. DSA comrades rolled out their banner, and we waved our signs chanting “Baby Nazis Go Home.” The students attending the conference (about 75 in total versus their expected 1000) immediately all stood up and began filming us. They looked preppy as all hell, fake tans and bleached teeth, wearing expensive polos and blazers. Since we were the unexpected guests, the few dozen TPUSA conference goers didn’t know what to make of us.

Photo via @ daneyvilla

After a few minutes the older TP coordinators got increasingly angry and began to shove us. I screamed in their faces not to touch me, which scared them off us for a few moments. Then one dark-haired young man in a red MAGA hat came up and attempted to snatch my sign out of my hand, I screamed deep as hell and they backed off. Eventually security guards came and we knew it was time to go. None of us came to get arrested today.

“I was able to have a conversation with some of the attendees who didn’t want to be there. They were the ones that informed me about the extraordinarily low turnout and the disappointment of the organizers.”

As a part of the second wave, I was the only GDC member with the group of unaffiliated antifascists. There were 5 of us in our party. I went inside to find a better place to disrupt the conference. I was instantly removed by one of the police officers at the center. Before I had a chance to put my mask back on, roughly 30 of the attendees came to heckle us in the front of the center. It seems fortunate that they came out at that time because I was able to have a conversation with some of the attendees who didn’t want to be there. They were the ones that informed me about the extraordinarily low turnout and the disappointment of the organizers.

Their low turnout was a sight to see, and they ended their conference 3 hours earlier than their agenda outlined. Overall, our disruption and shutdown was successful.