Video by Stuart Smith

White nationalists clashed with Antifa Friday night following Charlie Kirk’s speech at Colorado State University.

Charlie Kirk is the founder of Turning Point USA, a conservative nonprofit with an aim to organize students on college campuses to promote conservative policies. He was invited to speak at CSU by the local chapter of the organization. More than 500 people attended. Several groups, including Young Democratic Socialists of America, protested Kirk’s presence on campus and the content of his speech. Counter-protesters, including white nationalist groups, came to campus to confront the event’s protesters.

By the end of the night white nationalists were chased off of the CSU campus by members of Antifa and other protesters after altercations started on the CSU Plaza.


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Authorities, armed with riot gear and a canine unit, followed the crowd attempting to keep the groups separate and ordered people to disperse. While police attempted to break up the beginnings of a riot, smaller scale fights broke out as the groups moved west across campus.

CSUPD made no arrests during the clash, nor were there any arrests during the Kirk event, according to Dell Rae Ciaravola, CSUPD’s public information officer.

Ciaravola wrote in an email to the Collegian that no other injuries were reported to CSUPD related to the Kirk event, protests or clash. Later reports came in that at CSUPD officer had been injured in an unrelated incident.

Several eyewitnesses said people were hurt “on both sides,” during the fights that broke out.

“During the protests following the speech, there became a risk of an imminent threat of potential violence,” Ciaravola wrote. “CSUPD Chief Scott Harris made the determination to issue the dispersal order. Less than 200 people were on the plaza at the time the order was given. A group was moving into the area and was confirmed to be armed with bats, shields and gas masks.”

Reports that the Traditionalist Worker Party, an extremist political party, would attend to join counter-protesters circulated earlier this week. Some counter-protesters were heard yelling “Jews will not replace us,” and seen making the “Hail Hitler” sign. One member of the counter-protesters held a flag with a white power cross, a symbol used among Nazis.

One student present at the protest, Ally Price, said that she saw members of the Traditionalist Worker Party present. She said she saw them get hit in the face, and that people took out mace during the protest and threw flashlights.

Witnesses say ANTIFA and a white supremacist group are out on the Plaza. Police have released audience members from the Charlie Kirk event, cautioning them to not leave by the Plaza. @CSUCollegian pic.twitter.com/IOTQl9G9Gv — Haley Candelario (@H_Candelario98) February 3, 2018

“I didn’t come here to violently protest, I wanted to come here and stand my ground as a fellow student,” Price said. “I honestly didn’t believe it was going to get violent.”

A man who represented John Brown Gun Club (a.k.a., Redneck Revolt), who wished to be anonymous, was also present during the confrontation following Kirk’s speech. He said there are a lot of racist groups that associate themselves with Turning Point USA.

“We knew (the Neo-Nazis) were going to show up here,” -Anonymous John Brown Gun Club member

“We knew (the Neo-Nazis) were going to show up here,” he said.

The man spoke to some of what the nationalist group was chanting and their supposed purpose on campus.

“The white supremacists came through chanting ‘blood and soil’ and ‘you won’t replace us,’ much like they did at Charlottesville, and we decided to replace them and move them off campus, move them away from anybody that they might be putting at risk,” he said. “They are dangerous people, they have a dangerous ideology predicated on murder and genocide, and they had to go.”

When Kirk’s speech ended, those still sitting were advised by a CSUPD officer.

“Not to frighten anyone, there are police operations on the Plaza,” a CSUPD officer said. “Please head to the west. If you go towards the Plaza you will be involved in those operations.”

According to a student on the Plaza at the time, who wished to remain anonymous, the clash began after the police formed a line, blocking multiple exit avenues on the Plaza, and then the nationalists arrived.

Antifa and Neo-Nazi's clash on CSU's plaza and are chased off campus by police and law enforcement in riot gear.@CSUCollegian pic.twitter.com/TKvsIcEK9n — Tony VM (@TheTonyVM) February 3, 2018

“The police vehicles started announcing that it was an unlawful assembly. It was at that exact moment that all of a sudden you started hearing, ‘blood and soil’ from the other end of the Plaza,” the student said. “A contingent of what was probably the TWP came out or what I would imagine because one of those guys was trying to talk to me earlier today.”

The student said they heard the crowd yelling “Jews will not replace us,” and then saw Antifa surrounding members of the yelling group. At that time, police intervened, witnesses said.

CSU President Tony Frank responded with a campus-wide email late Friday evening.

“In a crowd this size, where emotions are running high and various groups arrive with a goal of violence to spread their fear, it’s sad but not unexpected to have some level of conflict, but we had a solid security plan in place and it worked well to minimize any violence,” Frank wrote.

Considering there was all that (neo-Nazi) presence, I was expecting it to be more in line with Milo Yiannopoulos considering what was going on out here. I like to widen my world view and hear different viewpoints. I don’t care if it’s conservative or liberal. If it’s someone halfway interesting, I want to hear their position on things.” -Robert, a sophomore political science major attending the event

Frank wrote an email the day prior to the event, stating that Turning Point had no track record of causing disturbances and therefore would be allowed to host the speech.

Kirk’s primary focus was to persuade the audience of the ineffectiveness and historical danger of socialist governments in power. Kirk called for the abolition of government programs, like the Departments of Education, Energy and Commerce.

Students from both sides of the political aisle were in attendance. Mike DiLegge, senior horticulture and landscaping major, said he attended the event because of the discussion it prompted.

“Although my ideals aren’t parallel in any way, shape or form with Turning Point, I think they have the right to discuss and I think the conversation is very important amongst collegiate minds,” DiLegge said.

Robert, sophomore political science major, said the event was more mainstream than he expected, and Kirk was well-spoken for having not gone to college.

“Considering there was all that (neo-Nazi) presence, I was expecting it to be more in line with Milo Yiannopoulos considering what was going on out here,” Robert said. “I like to widen my world view and hear different viewpoints. I don’t care if it’s conservative or liberal. If it’s someone halfway interesting, I want to hear their position on things.”

Other members of the community from both sides of the aisle were also at the event, including a man who wished to remain anonymous. The man is libertarian and said he thought college campuses are more dangerous now because of the controversy around conservatism.

“(The controversy is) Trump and the fact that we do support our president,” he said. “It’s been a year and he’s done such a good job. I think it’s logic versus illogic. People don’t listen to what he has to say.”

Collegian staff can be reached @CSUCollegian or by emailing news@collegian.com.

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