Florida AG pledges legal action against schools blocking TPUSA
The Florida Attorney General, James Uthmeier, has pledged to take legal action against public schools that prevent the formation of turning Point USA (TPUSA) chapters on their campuses. He stated that blocking these student organizations infringes on free speech rights and emphasized the state’s commitment to protecting students’ ability to organize and engage in debate. This announcement followed reports of schools across Florida denying students the chance to start TPUSA clubs, an organization known for conservative activism founded by the late Charlie Kirk.
Duval County School Board Vice Chair April Carney, supporting Uthmeier, highlighted ongoing efforts to revise school policies to allow student-led TPUSA chapters without requiring a teacher to be the sponsor, expanding sponsorship eligibility to other district employees or community members with background checks.
TPUSA has seen meaningful growth in interest following Kirk’s assassination, with inquiries about forming new chapters increasing dramatically nationwide. Support for TPUSA is spreading, with some states planning widespread adoption of chapters in schools and prominent political figures donating to the organization. Observers suggest Kirk’s death has galvanized conservative youth activism, potentially expanding Turning Point USA’s influence.
Florida attorney general pledges legal action against public schools blocking TPUSA chapters
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier on Thursday threatened legal recourse against public schools that thwart the development of Turning Point USA clubs on campuses.
The state’s chief prosecutor said he had been hearing reports of schools throughout Florida refusing to allow students to form TPUSA clubs. TPUSA is the organization spearheaded by conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was known for his debate-style interactions with students across the country on politics, culture, and other issues before his assassination earlier this month.
Uthmeier suggested any efforts to block TPUSA chapters mark an infringement on free speech, as he warned Florida would take legal action to allow for the formation of such clubs at schools.
“This is discriminatory. It’s wrong, and we will not stand for it,” he said in a video posted to X. “Our AG’s Office of parental rights will be bringing legal action where necessary to ensure that we are protecting the rights of students to organize, associate, and engage in speech and debate.”
Duval County School Board Vice Chair April Carney, who said earlier this week that there were unnecessary restrictions on forming TPUSA high school chapters at her school district, appeared alongside Uthmeir in the video. She referenced the school board’s agenda to reform policies to allow students to open TPUSA clubs, instead of only permitting teachers to lead the effort.
“I appreciate your support in this endeavor,” she told Uthmeier, “and I would like our students and parents to know that Duval County School Board is currently working on revamping our student-led organization policy so there should be no issues with you opening a Turning Point USA chapter or any other club that you are interested in extracurricular activity after school.”
Carney on Wednesday proposed changing the wording in the Duval County School Board Policy Manual to allow someone other than a teacher to serve as a sponsor for TPUSA chapters in the district, which educates over 130,000 students.
“I have been getting some phone calls from parents about receiving pushback from teachers where students have come forward saying that they wanted to open a Turning Point USA chapter,” Carney said. “I think it’s a violation of the First Amendment to have the teacher to say ‘No, I am not willing to sponsor.’”
“A student should be able to go to somebody else, another district employee that’s cleared with a Level 2 background check or a community member that’s willing to step up and do that role if they passed a Level 2 background check,” she added during a Policy Handbook Committee Meeting, according to WOKV.
TPUSA experienced an outpouring of support after Kirk’s murder while debating students on Sept. 10 during a campus event at Utah Valley University. By September 14, the organization, once of many conservative groups once probed by the Biden administration’s FBI, said it had received 54,000 inquiries about launching new chapters. By Wednesday, that number had risen to over 121,000.
In places like deep-red Oklahoma, the state superintendent announced plans to put TPUSA chapters in every high school in the state. In Virginia, Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) announced this week he would donate $100,000 to the organization. Donations have also surged, with Lynn Friess, the widow of mega-donor Foster Friess, who was Kirk’s first major backer when he formed TPUSA, pledging $1 million to TPUSA.
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Judah Waxelbaum, a former campus activist at Arizona State University for Republican causes, said that the assassination awoke a “sleeping giant.”
“Turning Point’s not going anywhere. Turning Point, I think, will probably actually get significantly larger in the wake of what happened to Charlie,” he told Fox News Digital. “You couldn’t do youth politics in Arizona, really anywhere in the United States, without coming across Charlie Kirk.”
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