Turning Point USA tour stop at CU Boulder greeted with large crowd inside, peaceful protest outside
CU was the first on an 11-stop tour by
When Kirk spoke at
Some protesters objected to the fact that they were separated from the
There were no arrest or citations in connection with the Wednesday appearance at CU, spokesman
"This event is another example of how much we value free expression on our campus," Huff said in a written statement. "As we have done many times before, several CU Boulder departments worked together with student organization leaders on the planning to ensure everyone could express their free speech rights in a safe manner."
Kirk and Owens entered and exited to standing ovations from a crowd of about 400 people, including students and community members from the surrounding area. They addressed a range of issues, including the ongoing controversy over Supreme Court nominee
"I've spoken out against the #MeToo movement," Owens said, sporting a shirt that read "#HimToo." She said the movement -- which has inspired people across the country to share their stories of sexual assault and harassment -- have stripped the accused of due process. "... I saw this coming from a mile away."
She later added: "These are our fathers. These are our sons. These are our husbands."
Both she and Kirk said they do not believe
They also spoke in support of capitalism, deregulation, decreased taxes and President
"The left loves a weak society because they can control that society," Kirk said.
He and Owens said liberals teach others, including through college campuses, that they are oppressed, but they use that as a means of controlling of them.
Meanwhile, dozens of protesters gathered before and during the speech outside the
The protesters spoke in support Ford and Ramirez and all survivors of sexual violence, and they carried signs and chanted, including, "Hey, hey, ho, ho, Turning Point has got to go," and "Say it once, say it again, no excuse for violent men."
In a play on Turning Point's acronym, TPUSA, they also collected toiletries, including toilet paper and tampons, to donate to people in the area experiencing homelessness.
"I also came out on behalf of sexual assault survivors," Gardner said. "By letting Kavanaugh get this far, what the country is saying to them is that we don't believe them or hear them. I want to make sure they know that we're out here. We hear them. We believe them. We support them."
"I hope that everyone in the audience can take away a better understanding about what's going on in politics today -- obviously it's going to be from a conservative perspective -- and people who disagree to come in and realize we're not horrible people and we don't think that they're horrible people," she said. "It's just we both disagree on something, and that's OK."
She said Turning Point officials selected the
CU officials did not yet have an estimate as to how much security and other efforts for the event cost. Police officers from CU and the city of
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