Two members of the right-wing organization Turning Point USA were caught on camera harassing and shoving an LGBTQ+ Arizona State University professor.
In footage posted online, a member of the conservative group can be seen questioning Professor David Boyles, about Drag Queen Story Hour – which the professor helped set-up a chapter in Arizona.
Upon being asked the reasoning by Turning Point for Boyle’s establishing a local chapter of the controversial storytelling hour, Boyle refused to answer questions.
‘Let me ask you, when did you decide to get obsessed with sex education?’ the reporter first asked.
Other questions were fired at Boyles including, ‘How long you’ve been attracted to minors?’ and ‘How long you’ve fantasized about minors having sex with adults?’
Video footage showed Boyles lung for the camera, as he is then pushed from behind by the others.
Two members of Turning Point USA, one seen on the right, were captured on cameras engaging in a confrontation with an LGBTQ+ Arizona State University professor, David Boyes, left, on campus
Boyles, right, was repeatedly asked about about his involvement in setting up a local chapter of Drag Queen Story Hour in Arizona
‘What are you gonna tell me, nothing? What are you gonna do?’ the Turning Point reporter asks, while Boyles remains silent.
‘David, you can’t run. It’s best if you just talk to me about why you want to push sodomy onto young people,’ the reporter suggests.
Finally, Boyles snaps. Video footage then shows him trying to grab the camera of one of him interrogators.
In doing so, he is pushed backward by the videographer and then shoved from behind by the activist asking the questions.
Boyle then appears to trip over the flowing white skirt he was wearing.
Security footage seen from above, released by Arizona State University, also appears to show Boyles attempting to reach for the cellphone camera, leading to him being pushed before falling face-first onto the ground.
Boyles later posted a photo of himself with blood running down the side of his face.
‘One filmed on his phone while the other shouted horrible and incendiary things at me, repeating standard right-wing nonsense about Drag Story Hour and also accusing me personally of pedophilia and hating America,’ Boyles wrote online.
Boyles appeared to reach for the camera but was then shoved from behind and tripped
Surveillance video from above shows Boyles reaching out to grab the cameraman’s phone
The reporter can then be seen shoving Boyles from behind, causing him to trip and fall
Boyles can then be seen lying on the ground after being shoved and
He said that while one person filmed the incident, the other hurled derogatory and inflammatory remarks at him.
‘Knowing that they were filming in order to post this online and inspire even more harassment against me, I moved to block the camera. When I did so, the other one jumped me from behind, slamming me to the pavement and causing the injuries you see above,’ Boyles explained.
My physical injuries are relatively minor and I’m doing ok. But I’m also feeling angry, violated, embarrassed, and despairing at the fact that we have come to normalize this kind of harassment and violence against anyone who tries to support LGBTQ+ youth,’ he added.
The police are now investigating the encounter as a possible case of aggravated assault with bias against LGBTQ+ individuals.
In a video shared by Turning Point to their 650,000 followers on X, the site explains the incident as their ‘reporter’ repeatedly questioned Boyles, insinuating that he sought to promote explicit content to young people.
The people from Turning Point have not been named and no charges have been filed.
Turning Point is a non-profit that advocates conservative viewpoints on campuses.
Boyles later posted a photo of himself with blood on one side of his face
The interviewee also accused Boyles of harboring anti-American sentiments and promoting harmful actions.
‘Boyles’s assault resulted in a disconnected wire that caused the video to cut out immediately after his first lunge, but the video is clear that Mr. Boyles, in a moment of rage, initiated a physical altercation and attacked our crew,’ Turning Point USA wrote in an explanation on X.
‘Our team fully intends to share this footage with local law enforcement, and if our cameraman decides to press criminal charges against Professor Boyle, we will fully support that decision.’
Boyles has been a writing instructor at the university since 2015 and specializes in ‘popular culture, digital literacy, visual rhetoric and the rhetoric of higher education,’ according to his university bio.
Andrew Kolvet, a spokesman for Turning Point, claimed Boyles had initiated the physical contact by ‘lunging’ at their cameraman.
‘A TPUSA Frontlines reporter attempted to ask Professor Boyles about his ideas and published beliefs on exposing minors to drag queens, his writings on underage sex, and ‘underground’ queer sex education—a topic he’s admitted to being obsessed with.
‘While asking these questions, Professor Boyles unexpectedly lunged at our cameraman and assaulted him. Our reporter attempted to separate Mr. Boyle from our cameraman, causing Mr. Boyles to fall and scrape his face. But the video evidence is clear, Professor Boyles initiated a physical altercation because he didn’t like the questions.
‘Not liking a question is not justification for assaulting someone. The cameraman has since has called the ASUPD and will be pressing charges.’
Boyles’ university representatives issued a statement denouncing harassment and threatening behavior towards ASU employees.