Key Takeaways
- Students at Utah and Michigan universities face charges after separate filmed confrontations with conservative speakers.
- One Utah student said Republicans should be shot shortly before a fight that left a College Republican on the ground.
What Happened
Two students face criminal charges after separate confrontations with conservatives on major public university campuses within one week.
At the University of Utah on Oct. 27, police cited a student with Class B misdemeanors for simple assault and property damage. University officials said the student wiped a College Republicans whiteboard asking whether there are only two genders, argued with a student at the table, and then knocked him down and tore his shirt. Video captures the cited student saying she thought Republicans should be shot in the streets, although it does not show the entire argument before the fight.
The cited student told FOX 13 that College Republicans followed and provoked her, that she was punched, and that the charges were bogus. The university said it offered support and resources to both students while police continued investigating.
At the University of Michigan on Nov. 1, campus police said officers witnessed a student push a woman to the ground as an unpermitted event was ending. Police took the student into custody, processed her, and released her. The woman received medical treatment and was released.
The Washtenaw County Prosecutor’s Office later authorized one count of assaulting, resisting, or obstructing an officer and two counts of assault or assault and battery against Temulun Togochog. Video appears to show Togochog strike commentator Joe Redden with a phone, push Jewish conservative activist Liz Benichou, resist officers, and say she should have killed Benichou. A court date had not been set.
Why It Matters
Universities have a duty to let students argue without making physical intimidation the price of unpopular speech. The people harmed here were not administrators setting policy. They were speakers standing at public campus tables.
When threats and force enter that space, students learn that the loudest aggressor can decide which views are safe to express. Schools should protect lawful debate and investigate violence consistently, even when the target’s politics are unpopular on campus.
The Bigger Picture
Both cases involve allegations that remain unresolved in court. The Utah video omits part of the encounter, and the cited student says she was also attacked. In Michigan, prosecutors authorized charges after police reported witnessing the push, but Togochog is presumed innocent unless convicted.
The incidents arrived amid a wider argument over campus tolerance for political violence. The strongest evidence is narrower than that national debate: two filmed confrontations became physical, police intervened, and criminal charges followed.
Sources & Related Reading
- University of Michigan Public Safety: Police response to the Diag incident
- FOX 13: University of Utah student cited after campus fight
- The College Fix: Washtenaw County prosecutors authorize Michigan charges
- New York Post/JNS: Charges authorized in Michigan case
