In the wake of the assassination of Charlie Kirk, there has been an outpouring of not only love and support for Kirk and his family, but for the movement he started with Turning Point USA (TPUSA).
After Erika Kirk gave a powerful speech on September 12, just two days after Charlie was assassinated in Orem, Utah, TPUSA saw 18,000 requests for new chapters — nearly double the existing number. At the time of Kirk's death, TPUSA had about 9,000 chapters on college campuses and 1,100 at high schools across the nation.
In Minnesota, a group of students at Sartell High School was among those who made the request to start a TPUSA chapter at their school.
"America as a whole was so devastated," said Lillian, one of the chapter's founders. "We knew we had to do something."
Lillian reached out to Townhall about those challenges, writing, "Students are mocking us for our beliefs and reporting our social media sites before we have the chance to post almost anything. At our school, there are many clubs like the feminism club and LGBTQ+ club that receive no backlash compared to TPUSA."
The Sartell High School website lists several clubs and groups, including the aforementioned "Feminist and Equality Movement (F.E.M.) Club," the "Gender Sexuality Alliance" club, and the "Student Advocates for Equity (S.A.F.E.) Club." There is also a Model UN, a Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and even a Bible study group.
But Lillian says only the TPUSA chapter has been targeted for harassment from her fellow students. It wouldn't be the first chapter to face harassment and blowback. In Texas, students and teachers were bullied and doxxed for starting a TPUSA chapter. A Virginia school board member described a school chapter of TPUSA as the "KKK." The parent of a Utah student says his son's school is barring TPUSA from being fully recognized.
"Their goal is to take us over and take us down," Lillian said. She noted that as part of its application as a student group, TPUSA agreed to welcome all people who wanted to be members. That welcoming nature is now being used against the group. Lillian also said students have referred to TPUSA as a "White supremacy group."
"I thought getting [the group] approved would be the hardest thing," Lillian said. Instead, she finds herself frustrated and angered by the behavior of her classmates. "The fact that some people celebrate [his death] is so incredibly frustrating," Lillian continued.
"Hearing kids smear [Charlie Kirk] is angering and frustrating," Lillian remarked. "They don't know who he was or what he actually did."
Her group hopes to educate them on this. On the TPUSA section of the Sartell High School website, it says the mission of the group is "fostering respectful and inclusive discussions on a variety of social topics. Goals of the club are to gain 50 members, encourage civil discourse, foster a respectful environment, host 3 speakers and have 3 outreach events throughout the school year."
Lillian said the group's staff advisors have been supportive, but that she's heard other teachers are "angry" and some students plan to go to the school board to complain, noting that some adults at the school seem "oblivious" to the plans to harass and shut down the TPUSA group.
The group's first meeting is scheduled for Friday, October 10, during a period called "Sabre Time." Lillian said some fellow students are planning to crash the meeting and disrupt it. The school's principal, Shayne Kusler, will be in attendance, and the meeting will be recorded in the event of disruptions.
Townhall reached out to Mr. Kusler for comment, but did not hear back.
"I just want to feel safe," Lillian said.