By: Vincent Medina and Montse Palmerin
Turning Point USA organizations from Long Beach State and Fullerton State protested against the CSULB Cultural Resource Center during the Students for Quality Education meeting Monday evening.
The Latinx Cultural Resource Center hosted the meeting as TPUSA protestors surrounded the entrance to the Latinx and Black Resource Center, according to a joint statement from the three organizations.
Turning Point USA is a conservative organization that aims to “educate, train, and organize students to promote the principles of freedom, free markets, and limited government.”
CSUF Turning Point USA president Marcos Zelada participated in the protest and waved a sign that read “Defunding never works bozos.”
The resource centers counter-demonstrated by gathering in the hallway, trying to show solidarity, according to their statement. In response, TPUSA called CSULB Police Department, which escalated the issue.
The joint statement alleged that CSULB police officer Chad Robbins argued with the cultural center demonstrators for calling police departments “white supremacist institutions.”
Other campus officers created a barricade between TPUSA protesters and counter demonstrators.
The Cultural Resource Center organizations and Students for Quality Education Long Beach urge CSULB president Jane Close Conoley, VP of Student Affairs Beth Lesen and ASI to “respond appropriately” to the incident.
La F.U.E.R.Z.A Student Association and the Black Student Union did not comment further on the issue.