Key points
- An ASU spokesperson said it did not approve events by National Ground Game and Turning Point USA because of a failure to meet a registration deadline.
- A TPUSA spokesperson denied speculations that Turning Point CEO Erika Kirk was involved in the decision to not approve the National Ground Game event.
- National Ground Game is preparing to sue the University, alleging First Amendment violations.
Figures from two national political organizations with student chapters expressed frustration with ASU not approving plans for their opposing campus events.
National Ground Game, a political action committee that brands itself as a Democratic opponent to Turning Point USA, planned to host a stop of the UnF--- America Tour March 23 on ASU's Tempe campus. Turning Point USA at ASU planned to host its Pick Up the Mic event at the same time nearby.
However, neither of the events occurred according to the original plan. The University said it never approved the events, as the organizations did not meet a registration deadline.
The organizations found themselves in conflict with the University and each other. Those conflicts emerged from a web of social media posts, emails with University administrators and comments from political figures.
National Ground Game is threatening to sue the University over the denial of their event request.
What happened to the National Ground Game event?
Jude Fell, the president of the ASU chapter of National Ground Game and a sophomore studying economics, said he worked to obtain the University's permission to host the UnF--- America Tour on campus. The process to complete registration was hard to navigate, and University officials were uncommunicative, he said.
Emails obtained by The State Press show Fell asked a program manager for Event and Meeting Services at ASU about issues with filling out the event registry form.
"The event registry form has been down for at least a week," Fell stated in a March 6 email. "I have emailed multiple times but have not received a response."
The same day, the program manager suggested Fell have the club's adviser fill out the form to get around the technical difficulties.
Fell said he worked with ASU professor Thom Reilly, who was the club's adviser until March 23, and Amy Zellmer, the college chapter coordinator for National Ground Game, to fill out the form.
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After further correspondence, Fell sent the program manager the required event registry number on March 11. The next morning, they said the event was confirmed.
On March 17, another University administrator also acknowledged the event, offering assistance to the organization if needed for the upcoming event.
The University informed Reilly on March 18 that the outdoor event was not approved because the organization did not submit its event request early enough, Reilly said.
Fell added that the University said the event would have to be postponed or moved indoors, with attendance limited to ASU students.
"Obviously, because we had so many trips and people traveling here, postponing didn't really make sense," Fell said. "Because of the nature of the event, doing it indoors also didn't make sense."
What happened to the Turning Point USA event?
Conservative commentator and Turning Point affiliate Jack Posobiec was one of the featured guests of Pick Up the Mic. During a livestream, he said the event faced a situation similar to the UnF--- America Tour.
Posobiec was streaming his show at Turning Point headquarters in Phoenix on March 23 when National Ground Game organizers arrived outside the building. He brought his crew outside to film the interaction.
Brian Shapiro, a content creator associated with the UnF--- America Tour, discussed the lack of approval for the events with Posobiec on the livestream. Posobiec said he learned Pick Up the Mic had not been approved, as he was on his way to Phoenix and had to figure out whether to still come.
The ASU chapter was able to transition the event to a later time and an indoor venue, so the event could still be held, Posobiec said.
Did the organizations meet the event registration deadline?
In a written statement, a University spokesperson said neither National Ground Game nor Turning Point USA submitted requests to host their events ahead of the University's established deadline.
"Rather than denying the requests, ASU offered both organizations the opportunity to hold events on their preferred date in a setting that would require less extensive safety planning and preparation," the spokesperson said.
National Ground Game Executive Director Zee Cohen-Sanchez said in a March 22 written statement that the UnF--- America Tour stop would proceed at the same time and location without a tent or amplified sound.
However, organizers took the detour to Turning Point USA headquarters instead, and the anticipated event did not happen as advertised.
The University spokesperson pointed to a Facilities Management Manual policy requiring that event organizers register with the University 14 days ahead to allow staff to review the proposal, plan for the event and process any needed approvals or permits.
Reilly said National Ground Game submitted the event request on March 11, which was 12 days before the UnF--- America Tour was scheduled to come to campus.
Moreover, the ASU program manager's email confirming the National Ground Game event only indicated that the organization could use the requested location, not that the event was approved as a whole, the spokesperson said.
"Once submitted, events require coordination from multiple parties before they can be approved," the University spokesperson said.
Fell said he had been in communication with University officials "well before" the 14-day requirement for the National Ground Game event. Cohen-Sanchez said the University had not informed organizers of such a deadline, despite having it in its polices.
"I thought that we were perfectly compliant within the time frame, because I wasn't getting responses back from when I was emailing initially," Fell said.
In response to National Ground Game's accusation that the event registration process had been confusing and staff had been unresponsive, a separate University spokesperson said hundreds of events are thrown every day at ASU.
"We have trainings, an organizational handbook and a whole team in student services that is dedicated to supporting student organizations and their events," the ASU spokesperson said in a written statement.
Was Erika Kirk involved in the denial of the event request?
Zellmer said Fell and another officer from National Ground Game at ASU attended the Turning Point USA at ASU chapter meeting to invite the organization's members to the UnF--- America Tour stop.
The officers found themselves near Turning Point CEO Erika Kirk and started recording when she spoke to the students.
"I was really frustrated that you guys weren't able to have the counter-tabling for the Un-F America Tour," Kirk said in the video, abbreviating the obscenity in the event's name. "That really pissed me off, especially because we have some really good people that could be on campus to counter program them."
While Cohen-Sanchez speculated about a potential connection between Kirk's comments on campus and the denial of the UnF--- America Tour stop's event request, others from National Ground Game undermined that speculation.
READ MORE: ASU community calls on University to take further action against Turning Point USA
Shapiro said the conflict with Turning Point "sounds like a misunderstanding" during his livestreamed conversation with Posobiec.
Turning Point USA spokesperson Andrew Kolvet denied any involvement with the tour stop event requests in a written statement.
"We had nothing to do with their event being cancelled, but they'd sure love for people to believe that," Kolvet said. "Welcome to university bureaucracy, something TPUSA knows better than any other group in the country."
Why is National Ground Game threatening to sue ASU?
Cohen-Sanchez said National Ground Game is working to find legal representation to file a lawsuit against the University.
In an Instagram post announcing the intent to sue, National Ground Game said the University had violated the organizers' First Amendment rights.
During an exclusive interview with The State Press on March 24, ASU President Michael Crow denied that the University had violated anyone's rights. He cited time, place and manner as considerations necessary for the approval of all events.
"The reason that we have the registrations is that we have to think significantly about the operational success of the University and the public safety of the people that are here at the University," Crow said. "We need time to think about that."
Cohen-Sanchez said National Ground Game has already begun to prepare its lawsuit against the University.
"It's not just about suing ASU," Cohen-Sanchez said. "This is a statement that if you try to do this to us on other college campuses, we are not afraid to take it to litigation."
Emma Bradford contributed to the reporting of this story.
Edited by Henry Smardo, Senna James, Sophia Braccio and Katrina Michalak.
Reach the reporter at coyer1@asu.edu and follow @carstenoyer on X.
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Carsten Oyer is the politics desk editor at The State Press. This is his third semester with The State Press, having previously worked as a politics reporter. He is studying journalism and mass communication and political science.
