On Tuesday, Nov. 19, the Socialist Student Alliance (SSA), now known as Right to Rebel, organized outside of Denman Ballroom in protest of Alex Stein, a right-wing comedian who was set to perform inside. Stein, who is known for confronting politicians and disrupting city council meetings, was hosted by the UTSA chapter of Turning Point USA (TPUSA) — a non-profit organization promoting conservative beliefs on high school and college campuses.
TPUSA has hosted Stein at colleges across the U.S., including the University of Washington, Oregon State University and the University of Nevada-Reno. His visit to UTSA was announced on Instagram on Nov. 7. In response, Right to Rebel announced a speakout on Nov. 18 at 1 p.m. in the Sombrilla and a protest at 6:30 p.m. on the day of the show via Instagram. Right to Rebel instructed protesters to “wear black” and “mask up” to form a black bloc, a protest tactic used to conceal wearers’ identities. They were also instructed to “block the show.”
“When fascists are not immediately forced out of our shared spaces, it is only a matter of time before they own them. Show up, Show out, Stand up, and Fight Back!” reads the caption of Right to Rebel’s post. Stein responded by posting a screenshot of Right to Rebel’s post on the day after, captioning, “At UTSA they wanna disrupt, But I’m speaking facts that they can’t interrupt.”
At 7 p.m. on the night of the performance, about two dozen masked Right to Rebel members dressed in black marched through the doors of the Student Union. Their chants included, “Get these fascists off of our campus,” “Get the alt-right off of our campus” and “It is our right to rebel. Alex Stein, go to hell.”
“We talk about freedom of speech, but he’s just spouting hatred that makes people unsafe on campus,” said a protester.
“In making that hatred into a supposed comedy night, it then validates that hatred,” said another protester. “He uses that whole thing of ‘as a joke’ to shield himself.”
Stein mocked the protesters, recording videos of the standoff and later posting them to his social media. “They’re all mentally deranged. They’re all vaccinated. They’re on SSRIs,” he can be seen saying on Instagram. The protest moved outside to the second-story balcony of the Student Union, with police presence deterring Right to Rebel from reentering.
When asked about his thoughts on the protest, Stein responded, “I actually kind of like these protesters because they’re passionate. I just think that they’re confused a little bit about what my message is and what messages should be and shouldn’t be allowed on college campuses.
“My message is that I’m sick of the government always messing everything up. You know, I’m very anti-government. I understand the government has to be in our lives, but I want a very limited government.”
Stein went inside to perform at 7:17 p.m. His material, which included jokes about transgender issues, vaccines and political figures, resonated with the crowd, which appeared to consist more of local residents than students. Audience members frequently voiced their agreement, shouting out responses that echoed his rhetoric, while others left as the performance elapsed.
“A lot of people who are conservative say, ‘Hey, I don’t want transgenders in the military.’ False,” Stein said. “Transgenders are the scariest people on planet Earth, and they are the best at mass shootings.”
After 20 minutes, Stein resorted to crowd work, answering questions from the audience. At 7:56 p.m., rumbling could be heard throughout the ballroom, as Right to Rebel pounded on its windows. This, however, ended quickly, as police instructed the students to stop.
Right to Rebel’s actions have been met with disapproval from the community.
“Everyone’s got their own opinions. I’m not informed enough to make an opinion about what they’re arguing about, but I feel like they definitely could’ve handled that way better,” said an on-site witness.
“They have every right to protest. I don’t much care what they do. They bang on walls, they yell, they shout slogans. Who cares? Such is [their] right,” said a comedy night attendee.
Many have also ridiculed a typo in Right to Rebel’s banner. The first “s” in fascism was missing; the typo was corrected post-production by a comparatively smaller “s.”
“[Right to Rebel] fix your sign,” reads the title of a Reddit post on r/UTSA. “It’s spelled FASCISM ffs.”
On Nov. 22, SSA changed its name to ‘Right to Rebel’ to “better represent [their] organization as well as the students and workers of SATX.” When asked for their opinion on the aftermath of the protest, the organization responded, “‘Right to Rebel’ is a very new organization. We got a lot of media attention, a lot of public interest and a lot of scrutiny very quickly. We plan to publish a Summation and Self Criticism on the event, which we encourage even those who disagree with us to read, along with spending more time going to the community.
“Hateful rhetoric can and has escalated into pogroms and lynch mobs against marginalized communities across the country,” said Right to Rebel. “We will not sit by and let history repeat.”
