Rantz: Violent Antifa thugs force Turning Point USA to cancel event, UW admin blame victims

Violent Antifa activists effectively forced student members of the University of Washington (UW) chapter of Turning Point USA to cancel an event focused on women’s rights. In response, school administrators appeared to shift blame onto the conservative students, seemingly misrepresenting a statement by the invited speaker. Their response implied, without basis, that the speaker intended to provoke the event’s cancellation.

Olivia Krolczyk from the Riley Gaines Center was scheduled to speak to students at an event titled, “Protect Women from Men: The Threat of the Trans Agenda.” Left-wing students and outside agitators, however, turned out to be the bigger threat Tuesday night.

Approximately 200 activists surrounded the hall where the event was scheduled. Some were wearing black bloc, an all-black outfit that is worn by Antifa to conceal their identity so that police cannot follow up with citations or arrests, while holding umbrellas. They claimed they were there to fight transphobia.

Disappointed that I couldn’t host my event tonight with @TPUSA @RileyGCenter due to University of Washington’s utter disregard for our safety and our rights to free speech.

I was met with threats of violence, harassed by protestors, held hostage in a room, windows were… pic.twitter.com/VALWqE5XfN

— Olivia Krolczyk (@oliviakrolczyk_) January 22, 2025

Antifa turn violent at Turning Point USA UW event

At first, the activists were protesting peacefully. Krolczyk attempted to engage some in a dialogue, though they weren’t interested.

“We’re holding a rally to celebrate the trans community and show that transphobia will not be tolerated on campus,” UW junior and far-left student organizer Valerie Marriott claimed to The Daily. “I think we need to be showing pride in ourselves … showing people we’re not these dangerous, demonified, awful people.”

But some in the crowd turned disruptive, violent and lawless once the event was scheduled to start.

One of the activists pulled the fire alarm in the building, setting off chaos. They escalated their disruption by banging on the windows and doors of the room where the event was taking place. A bright light was shined through one window, while another was shattered as someone threw a noise maker into the room. Inside the hall, they also vandalized the space with graffiti.

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Conservative students had to hunker down in the classroom

A handful of students attending the event, along with the speaker, had to barricade themselves inside the room while surrounded by the activists. TPUSA-UW member Katelyn Seratt was in attendance.

“Police were concerned that we wouldn’t really be able to make out without some harm probably more than likely to be done. So, we were definitely not really able to go out. We would be probably in harm’s way, so, we were essentially trapped,” Seratt explained exclusively on “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH.

Ten uniformed UW Police and contracted security staff were inside the hall for the event. But video taken from inside the room shows the uniformed staff not engaging with any of the activists who were breaking the law. UWPD Chief Craig Wilson confirmed to The Daily that there were no arrests and no one was detained.

Tonight the @TPUSA chapter at @UW planned to have an event to talk about the threat of the trans agenda. The speaker that was invited @oliviakrolczyk_ was not able to speak because of local rioters and Antifa members.

They set off the fire alarm, right when the event was… pic.twitter.com/FqBGx0JQvX

— Rachel Anderson (@RachelA1776) January 22, 2025

Conservative students had to be escorted out of the Turning Point USA UW event

Eventually, Seratt and the other students and speaker were escorted out of the building by police and security.

“And honestly, by the grace of God, everyone made it at home just fine,” she explained.

While Seratt said she was “rattled” by the threat, she said she’s not going to be intimidated into silence, a tactic that UW student activists and outside agitators routinely engage in with little to no consequences.

“I’m not intimidated. I’m definitely going to keep standing up for what I believe in and fight for free speech, because I believe it’s important … definitely going to be looking around my surroundings a little bit more,” she explained.

Seratt did note, however, the school administrators didn’t reach out to her or, to the best of her knowledge, other students who were effectively trapped inside the building to see how they were. She said it sends the message that the UW administration doesn’t care about them.

Victim blaming

UW spokesperson Victor Balta provided a statement to “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH. But the statement implies the conservative students with TPUSA-WA and the speaker are partly to blame for being targeted.

While Balta notes that the UW “is committed to free exchange of ideas,” he implied that because the group did not follow through on a commitment requiring registration for attendance in advance of the event, TPUSA-UW’s intent may not have been to hold an event without disruption. He also implied that Olivia Krolczyk wanted to agitate the activists outside.

“Informed discussion and debate are encouraged on our campus, however, it is clear that presenters and disruptors are, in some cases, seeking to antagonize one another in ways that provide dramatic content for their social media feeds. Tuesday’s scheduled speaker told the student newspaper that she was ‘excited’ the event was shut down,” Balta wrote.

Balta did not provide any evidence showing Krolczyk, who he lists before the actual activist disruptors, sought to antagonize the protesters for “dramatic content” on social media. Krolczyk did not post any videos of her antagonizing anyone in the activist crowd on her Instagram, X, or TikTok accounts as of Wednesday afternoon.

But Balta also did not accurately quote Krolczyk’s interview with The Daily.

Here’s what Olivia Krolcyzk actually said

Speaking to The Daily after the event was canceled, Krolczyk explained that she was “almost excited” by what happened. The context is clear: she believes it shows that they’re on the right side of the issues and the only way to win on the issue, is to shut down the debate.

“I’m almost excited (about being shut down), I know that sounds weird, but I’m excited because that means we’re doing something right,” Krolczyk explained. “We’re speaking the truth and they can’t handle it … I’m going to keep preaching the truth because that’s what God wants me to do.”

The out of context quote by Balta appears intentional, as a way to both-sides the disruption by left-wing extremists.

While he said the “responsibility for interrupting last night’s event falls on those whose actions were disruptive and damaging,” he found it necessary to imply TPUSA-UW students were asking for it.

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Will there be any consequences? Unlikely

The UW spokesperson said “those seeking to disrupt and shut down speakers are ultimately responsible and will face legal and disciplinary action if they are identified.” But given that no student was detained, consequences seem unlikely.

Some UW Police and security could have easily been staged outside the classroom where the event was taking place. It would have stopped the agitators from pounding on the door, which was an attempt to intimidate and disrupt the event and in violation of UW school policy.

Student activists have routinely disrupted events by conservative students, staged building takeovers, and even illegally set up an antisemitic encampment to support Hamas’ October 7 attacks on Israel. There are seldom consequences for those involved, even though in one case at the encampment, a UW professor was assaulted.

And as much as the UW claims it supports students’ rights to express themselves, it appears it’s only conservative-themed events that are routinely prevented from taking place.

“I’d really love to see more of a police presence, not only obviously around our pretty controversial events, but also just in general. I think it would be so good because Antifa is so around campus and so around Seattle that we should definitely have more security … because they’re violent, and we saw that last night,” Seratt said.

The full UW statement after Turning Point USA event was forced to be canceled

The University of Washington is committed to free exchange of ideas and the principles of academic freedom, in accordance with the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, including some whose views may be considered controversial. 

UW police leadership was in conversation with organizers of Tuesday night’s event several weeks ago to discuss plans to make it run as smoothly as possible and safely. The student group that invited the speaker, unfortunately, changed its plans during the course of the day. The group committed to requiring registration by attendees in advance of the event and did not follow through on that requirement.

The responsibility for interrupting last night’s event falls on those whose actions were disruptive and damaging, including breaking a window, graffiti in the building and wasting firefighters’ time with a false fire alarm. Anyone who is identified to have been responsible for vandalism or property damage will be pursued through legal channels.

The event organizers made the decision to suspend the event. UWPD escorted event participants out of the building.  

Informed discussion and debate are encouraged on our campus, however, it is clear that presenters and disruptors are, in some cases, seeking to antagonize one another in ways that provide dramatic content for their social media feeds. Tuesday’s scheduled speaker told the student newspaper that she was “excited” the event was shut down. 

Again, those seeking to disrupt and shut down speakers are ultimately responsible and will face legal and disciplinary action if they are identified. It is also important for organizers to follow advice provided by UWPD regarding security if the true intention is to hold an event without disruption. The costs to the University, the state and taxpayers to allow our campus to serve as the backdrop for these disruptions and exchanges is significant, and we will continue to do everything we can to enable student groups to host events without disruption.

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