NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Charlie Kirk supporters pushing anti-DEI and anti-immigrant rhetoric were escorted off Tennessee State University’s campus this week, raising alarm among advocates who say HBCUs are being deliberately targeted.
This confrontation came just a week after multiple HBCUs were placed on lockdown in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s murder, and only days after a highly politicized memorial service in Glendale, Arizona, led by the Trump administration.
Unauthorized Demonstration Quickly Addressed by TSU Officials
The group, known as Fearless Debates, arrived around 3 p.m. carrying signs that read “DEI should be illegal” and “deport all illegals now.” TSU stated that the individuals were not affiliated with the school and had failed to seek prior approval, as required for campus demonstrations.
Campus police and staff quickly responded, removing the group from university grounds without incident. Moreover, TSU praised its students for remaining “professional and respectful” throughout the encounter.
Nashville NAACP Condemns Targeting of Black Students
The Nashville NAACP condemned the group’s actions, calling them an “intentional effort to antagonize, disrupt, and instill fear in a space created to be safe, affirming and supportive of Black students.”
The civil rights organization urged other historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) to remain vigilant against similar provocations, warning that such rhetoric echoes “a long history of exclusion, racism, and systemic oppression.”
Fearless Debates Leans on Social Media to Amplify Confrontation
Social media accounts tied to Fearless Debates show the group drawing inspiration from Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, who was fatally shot earlier this month during an event in Utah.
An X account launched in September 2025 has already amassed 25,000 followers. On the platform, the group posted videos of its visit to TSU, showing students voicing their disapproval as members attempted to provoke them.
Posts from the group show TSU students confronting and filming them as police escorted them off campus.
“It started with one civil conversation at an HBCU. It ended in violence,” their posts read.
Students Respond Swiftly as TSU Reaffirms Safety Policies
Many Black students are deeply familiar with Charlie Kirk’s history of racist remarks about the Black community and Black women—awareness that fueled their swift and vocal response to his supporters’ presence on their college campus.
Despite the group’s claims of violence, TSU students remained peaceful but showed their disdain for Kirk supporters showing up unannounced on their college campus.
The HBCU issued the following statement:
TSU Statement on Unauthorized Campus Activity
Today, a group of individuals unaffiliated with Tennessee State University appeared on campus without prior notice. In accordance with university policy, any demonstration or protest activity requires advance approval and permitting.
Campus police and staff responded promptly, and the individuals were escorted from university grounds without incident. At all times, TSU students conducted themselves in a professional and respectful manner.
The safety and well-being of our students, faculty, and staff remain our highest priority. TSU will continue to uphold university policies and ensure that campus remains a safe, welcoming, and orderly environment for all members of our community.
Tennessee State University
For many in the Black community, the confrontation at TSU is a reminder that HBCUs remain both symbols of resilience and frequent targets of hostility.
As students push back against outside agitators and administrators reaffirm their commitment to safety, this incident underscores the broader struggle facing Black institutions: defending spaces created for affirmation and learning against efforts to intimidate, disrupt, and erase.
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Brother, “its students for remaining ‘professional and respectful’ throughout the encounter.” Did we watch the same videos?
I watched the video and I will not go along with your false narrative. Why couldn’t they just have a civil conversation with the guys sitting at a table? This makes me embarrassed for American institutions of “higher learning” that are supposed to be preparing our young people for the world. Should these places be federally funded if they are teaching them to react first with violence and threats and then condoning and praising them for their atrocious behavior?
Agree 100%.
The men didn’t come to evangelize — they came to antagonize. So defiant and entitled in their privilege, they didn’t even think they needed to follow basic setup protocols. That’s how deeply their superiority runs.
White Christians decided the only way to “save” an HBCU was to lead with confrontation — a “prove me wrong” argument about DEI and immigration, in the middle of a campus with historically Christian roots. They weren’t there to reach souls, they came looking for content; hoping to catch Black students being “loud,” “aggressive,” or “violent.”
Meanwhile, the actual shooter of their idol wasn’t Black. He was from the kind of crowd that wax ridiculed. Still, Kirk fans didn’t confront his type. They didn’t question Second Amendment aficionados. They came after what they assumed was the easy target — Black students at an HBCU.
Kirk sought out the young, and the impressionable, but he would have followed official campus channels. He still lost his life. His followers, on the other hand, showed up uninvited, unapproved, and unwanted — and got exactly what they were asking for: escorted off campus. The arrogance is wild.
They could’ve hosted a debate. They could’ve asked for a forum. But that’s not what they wanted. They wanted to provoke, record, and spin. And when Black students saw through the act and shut it down, they cried: “Violence!” What happened to Kirk was violence. What happened on that campus was accountability.
The audacity. The caucasity. The gall.
Love doesn’t push.
Love doesn’t force.
Love doesn’t disguise domination as “dialogue.”
They forced Kirk, DEI, and immigration talking points on an unsuspecting group of students and wanted to know why they were promptly removed. Those students aren’t asleep. They’re wide awake. And they sent the message loud and clear: Not here. Not like this.