TPUSA Cancels Event After Alleged Antifa Threats: ‘I Hope You Get Kirked'

Turning Point USA (TPUSA) canceled an event scheduled at the University of Washington (UW) after detransition activist and speaker Chloe Cole allegedly received threats in the days leading up to her appearance and following the death of a transgender student on Sunday.

Cole told Fox News, “There were local Antifa groups that were actually scheduling these large-scale protests, and there were so many people who I saw online, just out in the open, who were saying things like, ‘I hope you get Kirked.'" The phrase is in reference to TPUSA's former leader, Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated while speaking at Utah Valley University last fall.

Cole has pledged to reschedule the event, details of which have not yet been made public.

Newsweek has reached out to Cole, TPUSA, the University of Washington, and the Seattle Police Department for comment via email on Wednesday morning.

Why It Matters

The cancellation highlights growing tensions on college campuses over free speech, political activism, and protests and comes amid heightened security concerns and political violence fears, with repeated threats against public figures and speakers. Last month, a gunman disrupted the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in an assassination attempt targeting President Donald Trump.

It comes as debates over gender-affirming care and transgender athletes remain at the forefront of national politics, matters on which Trump has issued executive orders.

What To Know

Cole was set to speak on UW’s campus Wednesday as part of TPUSA's “Pick Up the Mic” initiative, which the conservative organization says is an example of "free speech in action" and "carries Charlie's legacy forward by elevating chapter events each semester that emphasize open dialogue, interactive Q&A, and Prove Me Wrong style tabling to the center of campus."

Kirk was shot and killed during an outdoor campus event in September.

On Tuesday, Cole posted a video on X explaining why the event was canceled, saying, "Antifa has assembled a local ‘militia,' in their own words, to shut down this event."

She continued, "their actions, their explicit threats on my life, have raised this event to national attention."

She told Fox News in December, “There was nothing they could say to me that would make me understand the gravity of what I was about to go through, because I was still growing up. I had very little experience in the world, and I simply would not be mature enough to be equipped to undergo such a life-changing procedure in every way.”

She was slated to speak about the matter at UW. In her video posted on X, she said, "Truth will always win. Christ will always prevail. God created each and every single one of us in his image, and there were only two sexes. That is the exact message I was going to take to the University of Washington tomorrow."

What Is Antifa?

Antifa, which is short for “anti-fascist,” is not a formal organization but rather a group of loosely affiliated people with no central leadership who say they are resisting those they deem fascist or white supremacist.

The ideologies of antifa adherents are based on various left-wing causes, including communism, anarchism and socialism, while many also support environmentalism, the rights of indigenous populations and LGBTQ+ rights.

People identifying with antifa movements have been involved in several high-profile protests and clashes in recent years, including demonstrations in Charlottesville, Virginia, unrest in Portland, Oregon, after George Floyd's killing, and confrontations tied to conservative campus speakers in Berkeley, California.

In September, days after Kirk’s assassination, Trump posted on Truth Social, “I am pleased to inform our many U.S.A. Patriots that I am designating ANTIFA, A SICK, DANGEROUS, RADICAL LEFT DISASTER, AS A MAJOR TERRORIST ORGANIZATION. I will also be strongly recommending that those funding ANTIFA be thoroughly investigated in accordance with the highest legal standards and practices.”

2026 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.

This story was originally published May 14, 2026 at 1:38 PM.