A conservative group at an Ivy League college was forced to change a planned live event to a virtual event following threats tied to a left-wing protest group.
The Dartmouth College chapter of Turning Point USA (TPUSA) was hosting Ngo and Gabriel Nadales, a former member of the left-wing group, to discuss Antifa at a Thursday night event before the college had to cancel due to security concerns.
“In light of concerning information from Hanover police regarding safety issues shared late in the afternoon, similar concerns expressed by the College Republican leadership, and challenges with the student organization’s ability to staff a large public event and communicate effectively (including dissemination of the visitor policy and a prohibition on bags in the building), the College requested that the Extremism in America panel be moved online,” Diana Lawrence, a spokeswoman for Dartmouth said.
“I remain hopeful that they will be able to protect them, but last night they sent a message that they are willing to be swayed by extremists,” Samuel Lee of TPUSA said. Lee added that the student group learned of the change at the last minute from the local police.
The presentation by Ngo and Nadales was hosted on Dartmouth’s Zoom page.
“Prior to the event, Antifa groups and accounts threatened armed violence,” Ngo posted on Twitter. He also posted screenshots of posts from what he described as “Antifa accounts” detailing the calls for action.
“Anti-fascists from Mass, NH, VT, Maine; anti-fascists from all over New England will be mobilizing January 20th, 2022 at Dartmouth College to disrupt & prevent fascist propagandists like Andy Ngo from normalizing their reactionary beliefs on college campuses in the Northeast,” a post in a Twitter thread from Northeast FASHWATCH said. The group’s post included a photo taken of Ngo after a 2019 attack that resulted in an overnight hospital stay.
In another post, the group claimed the cancellation as a victory.
There had been other efforts to disrupt the event, which was advertised on Eventbrite. Nearly 24,000 registrations, many of them “spam,” were made for the event, a field representative for TPUSA said.
A number of emails from media outlets were among those used for fake registrations.
“This is the first time the New England territory has seen something of this magnitude,” Lee said. He added that the group tried to address the fake registrations when the spamming started and had contacted Eventbrite but when they received no response they were forced to change how they handled reservations for the event.
“Eventbrite works hard to protect its community of ticket buyers and event organizers, and is taking immediate steps to investigate and address the situation,” a spokeswoman for the online event company said.
Antifa has a history of using violence against conservatives or those opposing left-wing causes. In 2021, incidents included an attack on Ngo, an assault against protestors outside a Los Angeles spa, an attack on a prayer meeting in Portland, Oregon, and a mob outside the D.C.-area home of Republican Sen. Josh Hawley on Jan. 4 of that year.
