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Palm Beach Officials BLOCK Students from Entering TPUSA Conference

Charlie Kirk Staff

12/21/2020

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Palm Beach Officials BLOCK Students from Entering TPUSA Conference

In what can only be described as a “typical COVID backfire” moment, students attending Turning Point USA’s Student Action Summit yesterday were refused entry by Palm Beach County officials, prompting event speakers to address a large crowd outside of the venue. 

RedState writes:

As the event was underway Saturday, Palm Beach County officials suddenly stopped allowing students to enter the convention center lobby to register, saying the event was over capacity, and stranding hundreds of students outside the door – packed like sardines. Of course, in that environment rumors start quickly and are amplified on social media. It was reported that TPUSA was attempting to do same-day registration at the convention center, that they were unregistering attendees, and that they oversold the event. TPUSA officials tell RedState that none of those rumors are true.

According to the TPUSA officials we spoke with, there were no capacity restrictions in the original contract, which was signed before the pandemic hit, but that subsequently county officials told them capacity would be limited to 50 percent and that masks would be required. TPUSA agreed to those restrictions and developed an overflow plan, which Palm Beach County officials approved.

Despite the approved overflow plan, Palm Beach officials forced additional attendees outside once they determined the main ballroom was at capacity. This move, of course, backfired spectacularly as event speakers such as Tucker Carlson and Donald Trump Jr. went outside to speak with all of the ousted students.

A TPUSA official described the event as a “typical COVID backfire:”

“Instead of helping, the policy ended up creating havoc and chaos. Inside the lobby, students would have been socially distanced, and we were enforcing the mask rule. When county officials locked people out, you ended up with hundreds of eager students out on the street, packed like sardines, and no way to enforce social distancing guidelines or mask mandates. But, now these students have a once-in-a-lifetime memory of the speakers going out and taking the conference to the students. It’s true grassroots organizing.” 

For the full story, click HERE.

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Charlie Kirk is the Founder and President of Turning Point USA, a national student movement dedicated to empowering young people to promote the principles of free markets and limited government.

Charlie is also the host of “The Charlie Kirk Show” podcast, which regularly ranks among the top-10 news shows on Apple podcast news charts, and is the host of the nationally syndicated daily radio show on the Salem Radio Network live from 12 - 3 PM ET.
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