University of Maryland Turning Point USA chapter pushes back against security fees for event

The University of Maryland chapter of Turning Point USA, the group co-founded by conservative activist Charlie Kirk, is pushing back against the school for what they call a viewpoint-discriminatory security fee ahead of an event scheduled for Wednesday.

Kirk was assassinated during an event in September on the campus of Utah Valley University.

Event organizers for the College Park, Maryland, rally said they were told by the school that the event can't continue unless the chapter agrees to pay for added security.

The chapter is scheduled to host Cabot Phillips, the senior editor of the conservative publication the Daily Wire.

"He did say, 'We will not approve this event unless you first pay this fee,'" said Connor Clayton, a University of Maryland senior and communications chair for the College Park Turning Point USA chapter.

The university says security fees are imposed for other event hosts

Clayton told WJZ that they weren't charged for several events hosted by the University of Maryland chapter of Turning Point USA, which included security by the university police.

This event comes more than a month after Kirk was shot and killed while he was speaking at an event in Utah.

"It's basically saying, anybody, if they want to threaten our chapter or threaten us because of our viewpoints and our speech, then the university, in turn, is going to impose financial burdens on us, or else we can't have our events," Clayton said. "That is a very dangerous precedent to put on a Turning Point chapter."

The University of Maryland told WJZ, "The university imposes the same type of screening requirements and related security fees on other event hosts holding similar types of guest speaker events, regardless of the content or viewpoint of the event organizer, speaker, or their respective messages."

Who should pay the bill for event security?

Students on campus said they are in favor of added security, but question who should be responsible for footing the bill.

"If UMD is making every other organization pay that same fee, then of course they should pay it," said a freshman student, who declined to be named.

"I think the school can easily pay for it, and they should," added junior Fiona Doyle.

Clayton said his chapter welcomes the added security, but maintains they will not pay for it.

"If the university would like to provide that free of charge like they have in the past, we are totally fine with that," Clayton said. "But to say that we have to pay the security fee or this event is not happening, that's blatantly unconstitutional, and we definitely have a contention with that."

Clayton said the chapter will move forward with the event.

They've also gained support from the nonprofit Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), which has called on the school to rescind the fee, but the school responded that it will uphold its requirement.