{"id":989,"date":"2025-04-10T12:01:01","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T12:01:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/entouragecover.com\/?p=989"},"modified":"2025-04-13T00:16:47","modified_gmt":"2025-04-13T00:16:47","slug":"nyu-cancels-college-republicans-event-after-panelist-requests-armed-security","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/entouragecover.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/10\/nyu-cancels-college-republicans-event-after-panelist-requests-armed-security\/","title":{"rendered":"NYU cancels College Republicans event after panelist requests \u2018armed security\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Administrators canceled an event organized by the NYU College Republicans featuring three conservative influencers Wednesday afternoon after one of the speakers publicly requested that attendees \u201ccarry a firearm\u201d and \u201cprovide security.\u201d Slated for Thursday, the on-campus panel about immigration in the United States faced backlash from thousands of university community members, who said it promoted white supremacy and xenophobia.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In a statement announcing the event\u2019s cancellation, NYU spokesperson John Beckman said that the university notified police about the \u201c<\/span>threatening developments<\/span><\/a>\u201d published by panelist Elijah Schaffer, creator of the conservative publication Rift TV. In an X post, Schaffer called for \u201c<\/span>armed security<\/span><\/a>\u201d at the event \u2014 set to take place at the Kimmel Center for University Life \u2014 after several student groups condemned it on social media.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a zero tolerance policy with respect to violence, and we have a responsibility to the safety of our community,\u201d Beckman wrote. \u201cIn addition, complaints regarding our NDAH policies will be investigated.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

I need armed security tomorrow in New York in the evening<\/p>\n

If you have connections or are able to carry a firearm and can provide security<\/p>\n

Please DM me a lead \/ rates<\/p>\n

Thanks pic.twitter.com\/UaY30Llc8g<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 E (@ElijahSchaffer) April 9, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The panel \u2014 titled \u201cImmigrant Invasion,\u201d with the subheading \u201cYou don\u2019t have to go home, but you can\u2019t stay here\u201d \u2014 was set to feature Schaffer, a Rift TV reporter <\/span>Sarah Stock<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Lucian Wintrich<\/span><\/a>, the press chairman of a young Republicans\u2019 club in Manhattan. The panelists marketed the event on social media with a caricature of two Black men, one holding a knife, towering over three white people wearing angel wings.<\/span><\/p>\n

In less than 24 hours, over 3,000 people <\/span>signed a petition<\/span><\/a> demanding that NYU cancel the \u201cwhite supremacist event\u201d before Beckman issued the statement. The petition, put up by NYU\u2019s chapter of Students for a Democratic Society and endorsed by <\/span>over 40 on-campus groups<\/span><\/a>, widely circulated social media on Wednesday. NYU SDS also called on signatories to send a pre-written email to the Office of the President, Director of the Kimmel Center Amanda Suric and the Center for Student Life, encouraging administrators to cancel the event.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

NYU SDS member Ebtesham Ahmed criticized NYU\u2019s statement for only acknowledging security threats and not addressing the content of the panel. Ahmed said the university \u201cfailed to create a safe environment\u201d for students by allowing the organization and promotion of the panel and only taking action after dozens of student organizations condemned it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After NYU canceled the panel, the petition continued to receive hundreds of signatories \u2014 hitting over 4,500 total by the time it closed. The petition also called on NYU to condemn white supremacy and commit to the \u201csafety and dignity of all students,\u201d citing <\/span>the recent desecration in a Bobst Library prayer room<\/span><\/a> and a \u201cracist hack\u201d <\/span>that accused NYU of <\/span><\/a>\u201cillegal discrimination.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Saha Guerrero, president of the NYU College Democrats, also said the university should have criticized the College Republicans in its statement and did not adequately sanction the group for \u201copenly inviting people who align themselves with neo-Nazis.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s even more disgraceful is that NYU College Republican leaders are too cowardly to take responsibility for their actions,\u201d Guerrero said in an interview with WSN. \u201cThey inflicted a lot of damage on our student body, and they clearly don\u2019t understand what it means to protect a community that is under attack by the very politicians that they continue to champion.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The NYU College Republicans deleted its initial Instagram posts promoting the event around 5 p.m. Wednesday. The group declined to comment.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tasha Savas, the vice president of the NYU College Democrats, told WSN that her organization had coordinated a press conference with Councilmember Keith Powers \u2014 who is currently running for Manhattan Borough President \u2014 to take place right before the immigration panel, in an effort to raise citywide awareness about the now-canceled event.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After the event\u2019s cancellation, Schaffer said that NYU \u201c<\/span>intentionally convoluted<\/span><\/a>\u201d his words and claimed that he was \u201cnever calling for violence, implied violence or called for people to be armed at the event.\u201d Schaffer said that students sent him \u201cvalid threats on social media\u201d on his life and threatened to take legal action against NYU if it doesn\u2019t retract the Wednesday statement.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2017, NYU leadership postponed the College Republicans\u2019 event featuring Wintrich due to \u201c<\/span>a lack of time to plan for a safe event<\/span><\/a>.\u201d In the same year, the conservative think tank Propertarian Institute rented a classroom in the Kimmel Center under a false name, \u201c<\/span>Seattle Commercial Fitness<\/span><\/a>,\u201d for a six-hour roundtable discussion about Anglo-conservative topics. Soon after, the university <\/span>updated its policy<\/span><\/a> to require all third-party organizers to be affiliated with NYU organizations or departments to reserve a room.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

President Linda Mills sent an email to the NYU community Tuesday night announcing that \u201c<\/span>some members<\/span><\/a>\u201d of the university have been affected by President Donald Trump\u2019s student visa revocations amid his crackdown on pro-Palestinian protesters on U.S. college campuses.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBy trying to put on an event like this, the NYU College Republicans are promoting the demonization of immigrants,\u201d Guerrero said. \u201cOur community is under assault by the highest office in the land, we ought to engage in acts of community support rather than harming our community that\u2019s already being put in harm\u2019s way by the politicians.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Contact Amanda Chen at achen@nyunews.com.<\/em><\/p>\n

This story NYU cancels College Republicans event after panelist requests \u2018armed security\u2019<\/a> appeared first on Washington Square News<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Administrators canceled an event organized by the NYU College Republicans featuring three conservative influencers Wednesday afternoon after one of the speakers publicly requested that attendees \u201ccarry a firearm\u201d and \u201cprovide security.\u201d Slated for Thursday, the on-campus panel about immigration in the United States faced backlash from thousands of university community members, who said it promoted […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":991,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/entouragecover.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/989"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/entouragecover.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/entouragecover.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/entouragecover.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/entouragecover.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=989"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/entouragecover.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/989\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":992,"href":"http:\/\/entouragecover.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/989\/revisions\/992"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/entouragecover.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/entouragecover.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/entouragecover.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/entouragecover.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}