A protester was detained during Charlie Kirk’s vigil held by Turning Point USA at UT San Antonio. Junior political science major John Jackson brought a posterboard containing the death toll of Palestinian civilians in the Israel-Hamas war. According to Jackson, he aimed to express his difference of opinion with the slain political commentator who defended Israel’s actions. He was detained by UT San Antonio police officers while doing so. During an exclusive interview with The Paisano, Jackson shared his experience attending the vigil.
“I was promptly antagonized, heckled and, overall, just verbally abused by the crowd,” he said. “There is a lot of, what you would almost call, ‘religious psychosis’ in terms of what Charlie meant to these people.
“I do believe that with the mix of political and physical trauma, that ultimately stewed in a very violent reaction to anybody wanting to remind these people of what Charlie actually said more so than the image that the media wants to present him as.”
Hundreds of Kirk supporters filled the Sombrilla on Sept 15. Jackson felt that it was either the volume of people or political tensions that led to an altercation resulting in his detainment.
He claimed that after being shoved by a woman, another woman in front of him assumed he was the aggressor, which led to a man allegedly assaulting him. UT San Antonio administrators and police officers approached him after.
“They said I could stay there — that was by the administrators. And then the police promptly detained me and said I was being cited for three counts of assault/unwanted contact,” Jackson said. “They attempted to ban me for a year, for criminal trespass, until they found out that I was a student. They then said that I had to leave campus. I told them, ‘What if I was living here,’ in which they declined to further comment.
“I almost felt entrapped. [Administrators] said I could remain where I was, and I didn’t have to be relegated to some so-called ‘Freedom of Speech Zone,’ and then I was promptly detained by the police, giving me the false illusionment of safety in having the administration behind my back.”
Jackson pointed out another potential inconsistency in the actions permitted by UT San Antonio administration during the vigil. He brought up how at the vigil held in honor of deceased doctoral student Jose Bruno Del Rio-Malewski, open flame candles were not used. However, they were used during Kirk’s vigil. According to UT San Antonio’s Handbook of Operating Procedures, open flames are prohibited unless approved in advance by the UT San Antonio Fire Marshal.
“There is very crude administrative irony in the fact that the fire marshal allowed for open-flame candles at this vigil,” Jackson claimed. “It’s very insulting and ultimately demonstrative of what you would almost call ‘political’ or ‘pressured bias’ to submit to the request of TPUSA but not to one of our dear members of our community who unfortunately took their life.”
The Paisano was unable to contact the UT San Antonio Fire Marshal for confirmation on whether or not approval was granted for the usage of open flame candles at Del Rio-Malewski’s or Kirk’s vigils.
“There [are] obviously issues with UTSAPD and how administrators are coordinating with their efforts to protect students’ freedom of speech and to overall regulate outside-campus influence.”
Before attending the vigil, Jackson observed on social media what he felt were alarming sentiments held by Kirk supporters regarding the police presence and concealed carry.
“Many people that were gladly attending the event to support Kirk and the TPUSA movement were relieved that there was heightened security [so] they wouldn’t have to bring their concealed firearm,” Jackson stated. “But the mere fact that people from outside of the campus think that they should bring their concealed firearms to a campus for students for education is insane to me.”
According to UT San Antonio’s campus carry policy, the open carry of firearms on its properties is prohibited.
“It’s very worrying that that kind of demographic is slowly being more encouraged to visit spaces that should, at the very least, offer neutrality in terms of politics but should have zero exceptional policy when it comes to carrying firearms or anything that would harm or intimidate students.”
