(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Turning Point USA Attacks ASU Professor [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-10-17 When I heard about this the first time, I went back and forth about whether I should write up a story/blog/diary entry about this incident. I had decided not to, based on my limited time available, but since Keith Olbermann featured it on his Countdown podcast today, I figured I could fill in some of the details here. Also, I teach at Arizona State University, so this is close to home. I am not the victim, I do not know the victim, and the victim is in a different department from me. Arizona State Instructor Followed, Injured by Turning Point USA Crew Police investigate an altercation with a queer ASU educator as possible aggravated assault by an operative of the right-wing group. Two associates of the right-wing organization Turning Point USA followed a queer Arizona State University instructor on campus Wednesday [October 9th] afternoon, with one demanding he answer questions about “how long you’ve been attracted to minors” and “how long you’ve fantasized about minors having sex with adults” while the other filmed the encounter. The confrontation eventually turned physical, ending with the educator, David Boyles, posting a photo of himself with blood on one side of his face. “One filmed on his phone while the other shouted horrible and incendiary things at me, repeating standard right-wing nonsense about Drag Story Hour and also accusing me personally of pedophilia and hating America,” Boyles wrote in a now-private Instagram message cited by The Arizona Republic. Boyles, an Arizona State graduate and writing instructor at the university since 2015, specializes in “popular culture, digital literacy, visual rhetoric and the rhetoric of higher education,” according to his university bio. Turning Point’s Professor Watchlist—a database launched in 2016 that has resulted in academics receiving vitriol and threats for their alleged views—targets Boyles for, among other things, his advocacy of a program in which drag queens read books to children. ASU Police have released a video of the incident. x ASU Police has released video of the incident. pic.twitter.com/S1K9mWOJZ8 — KTAR News 92.3 (@KTAR923) October 14, 2023 In the classic “blame the victim” mentality, TPUSA is … well, claiming that THEY were assaulted. x 🚨ASU Professor assaults TPUSA cameraman, caught on video 🚨 Our TPUSA Frontlines reporter tried to ask self-professed “sex education obsessed” queer ASU Professor David Boyles, a few simple questions. Refusing to answer, our cameras caught the exact moment Mr. Boyles assaulted,… pic.twitter.com/YJWBEzSgRx — Turning Point USA (@TPUSA) October 13, 2023 “Our team fully intends to share this footage with local law enforcement, and if our cameraman decides to press criminal charges against Professor Boyle, we will fully support that decision,” Turning Point said in a social media post. I sure hope so. That will save the police from having to track them down and arrest them. Boyle was clearly acting in self-defense. Oh, and by the way … Arizona is a “stand your ground” state. The “reporter” who was pestering Boyles has been identified as being Kalen D’Almeida. University President Michael Crow issued a statement about the incident on Saturday (October 14): It is astounding to me that individuals from Turning Point USA would wait for an ASU instructor to come out of his class to follow him, harass him and ultimately shove him to the ground, bloodying his face. Cowards that they are and so confident in the legality and appropriateness of their actions, the Turning Point USA “reporter” and “cameraman” then ran away from the scene before police arrived. This is the kind of outrageous conduct that you would expect to see from bullies in a high school cafeteria. I spoke with Dr. Boyles about what transpired when he was walking from his class to his car and I watched the video of the incident multiple times. It is stunning for Turning Point USA leadership to endorse, defend and fund such activity in the name of “freedom.” [...] Dr. Boyles is an instructor at ASU teaches writing and English literature including a class which draws from LGBTQ+ literature. He is part of an academic community that appropriately engages our students across the entire spectrum of human experience and expression. Earlier this year, I wrote to Turning Point USA to request that it remove ASU professors from its Professor Watchlist. I did not receive a response. Instead, the incident we’ve all now witnessed on the video shows Turning Point’s refusal to stop dangerous practices that result in both physical and mental harm to ASU faculty members, which they then apparently exploit for fundraising, social media clicks and financial gain. As my April 2023 letter to Turning Point USA indicated, the Professor Watchlist has resulted in antisemitic, anti-LGBTQ+ and misogynistic attacks on ASU faculty with whom Turning Point USA and its followers disagree. Such tactics are anti-democratic, anti-free speech and completely contrary to the spirit of university scholarship, teaching and community. Finally, please let me note that while Turning Point USA has been featured in and has hosted public events at ASU and the university has supported its right to do so, the same organization is ironically using intimidation, embarrassment and bullying to prevent others from speaking in ways with which it disagrees. Well, so much for “not allowing conservative views to be heard at colleges.” In the letter, addressed to Charlie Kirk, on April 10 of this year, President Crow documented some of the consequences of the “Professor Watchlist” at TPUSA’s website and tossed them a challenge. I would like to request that you remove the ASU faculty members from the Professor Watchlist, as the only basis for their inclusion appears to be that they have expressed views with which you or your colleagues disagree. If you will not do so, please add me to the list, as I will continue to support all of ASU’s faculty members in their right to teach, engage in scholarship, and advocate for their views without the kind of intimidation, abuse and antisemitism which is found in the enclosed attachments and which occurs when faculty are placed on your list. If being on the list means believing that viewpoints from across the ideological spectrum are welcome on college campuses, I would be honored to be on it. The last time I checked, Dr. Crow had not been added to the webpage. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/10/17/2200017/-Turning-Point-USA-Attacks-ASU-Professor?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/