Protesters Riot Outside TPUSA Women’s Conference
DEVELOPING STORY: A mob of leftist stormed the Turning Point USA Women’s Leadership Summit Saturday in San Antonio chanting that Charlie Kirk deserved to die. The summit, in the Marriott Rivercenter, was billed as a faith-filled gathering of conservative women into the latest flashpoint in America’s raging free-speech war.
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The summit featured TPUSA CEO Erika Kirk and a roster of prominent conservative women, including Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Kayleigh McEnany. The event website described the summit as a gathering where women would “strengthen their minds, cultivate wellness” and “anchor their spirits in faith.”
But outside the venue, protesters gathered at Labor Plaza before marching toward the hotel. Video posted by TPUSA’s Frontlines account showed demonstrators chanting, “Women hold up half the sky, Charlie Kirk deserved to die,” as they made their way toward the event.
“Most disturbing of all was how many protestors openly celebrated the assassination of Charlie Kirk. One protestor dressed up as Charlie in a full mask and mocked his death,” Lydia Taylor Davis told The Todd Starnes Show. “When I confronted him, he openly defended assassinating ‘fascists’ after also calling me a fascist. Unsurprisingly, when I asked him to define fascism, he couldn’t do it.Their behavior exposed exactly what the modern Left has become: hateful, violent, and incapable of tolerating disagreement.”
The mayhem did not stop outside. Inside the summit, a heckler disrupted Erika Kirk’s remarks by shouting, “Erika Kirk protects pedophiles,” before security removed the protester, according to published reports.
The disruption came just days after San Antonio authorities arrested 26-year-old Jacob Wenske, who was accused of making terroristic threats tied to the TPUSA event. Authorities said Wenske allegedly commented on a Facebook post promoting the summit, “I know exactly where to bomb,” and later wrote, “Death to Erika Kirk and every single speaker there!!”
TPUSA said it would not be intimidated.
“The safety of our attendees, speakers, and staff is always our top priority,” TPUSA spokesman Matt Shupe told Fox News Digital. “All TPUSA events include enhanced, multi-layered security measures enforced by both private security and local police.” He added, “We refuse to let threats silence us.”
Authorities had already beefed up security for the summit, including uniformed officers and explosive-detection K9 resources, after the threats were deemed serious enough to trigger a law enforcement response.
For TPUSA supporters, the scenes in San Antonio were another reminder that conservative speech is increasingly met not with debate, but with disruption, threats and rage.
The summit continued despite the chaos. Kirk, who has faced a wave of threats since taking the helm of the conservative youth organization, remained on stage — refusing to surrender the microphone to the mob.