Leadership Institute sues University of New Mexico over ‘unconstitutional’ security fee after Riley Gaines event
The lawsuit accuses the university of allowing ‘university officials authority to impose unconstitutional, content-based restrictions on speech.’
The organizations are asking a judge to declare the university’s actions unconstitutional, stop collection of the security fee, and order the university to revise its security and free speech policies.
The Leadership Institute and Turning Point USA at the University of New Mexico sued the University of New Mexico after the school charged over $5,000 in security fees in order to host a speaking event featuring Riley Gaines, a former D1 college swimmer.
In early September 2023, a month after initiating the request to host an event, members of the University of New Mexico Turning Point chapter were informed that there was a “scheduling conflict” that prevented them from using the event venue they requested, requiring them to relocate to a space that would require the presence of police officers, according to the lawsuit.
Gaines is the director of the Riley Gaines Center at the Leadership Institute and spoke at the University of New Mexico on Oct. 4 to a crowd of around 200 people Southeastern Legal Foundation filed the lawsuit on behalf of Leadership Institute and Turning Point USA at the University of New Mexico on Tuesday.
When meeting an administrator and leadership of the university’s police department, the Turning Point members were informed that they would need to pay a $10,000 security fee so that 33 police officers could be present at the event, the lawsuit states.
Timothy Stump, a lieutenant at the police department, said the fee was “consistent” with how fees were assessed to conservative organizations in the past, the lawsuit adds, stating that the university assesses security fees on a “case-by-case” basis.
Stump also allegedly said that if the Turning Point chapter held an event streaming the movie “Barbie,” no police officers would likely be needed because he was “not worried about the Barbie movie.”
According to the complaint, Stump eventually agreed to a smaller number of required police officers and presented the chapter with a new quote of $7,420, adding that Turning Point chapter representatives needed to agree in writing to the security charge prior to the event.
“[Turning Point-University of New Mexico and Leadership Institute] did not believe that the security fee was constitutional. But because they had already made a commitment to Ms. Gaines and because Ms. Gaines was not available to speak on another day that semester, Plaintiffs believed they had no choice but to proceed with the event,” the lawsuit states.
The Leadership Institute and Turning Point chapter assert that university officials engaged in “unconstitutional” speech policies that weren’t viewpoint-neutral.
“The speech policy is unconstitutional on its face because it gives university officials authority to impose unconstitutional, content-based restrictions on speech,” the groups wrote.
After the event on Oct. 4, Stump sent an invoice to the Turning Point chapter for $5,384.75. The invoice states that twenty-seven officers were hired for security at the event, and six were dismissed after 2:15 hours.
According to the lawsuit, in the spring of 2023, the university’s Students for Life America chapter was handed a $8,140 quote in security fees after it requested to host pro-life speaker Kristan Hawkins.
One month after Gaines appeared at the University of New Mexico, the school’s student government held “Drag Bingo with Roxxxy Andrews,” featuring a former contestant of RuPaul’s Drag Race. Andrews boasts a following of over 500,000 followers on Instagram.
[RELATED: Riley Gaines: Transgender issues are about the ‘sheer essence of humanity’]
According to the lawsuit, members of the Turning Point chapter didn’t see a “single security officer” at the event.
The conservative organizations are asking a judge to declare the university’s actions unconstitutional, stop collection of the security fee, and order the university to revise its security and free speech policies.
Director of SLF’s Legal Initiatives Cece O’Leary said that hefty security fees prevent student groups from organizing events
“Turning Point USA is the only conservative group left on UNM’s campus, and it is no wonder. When students have to pay thousands of dollars every time they want to engage in basic speech activities—the very thing they are supposed to be doing during their college years—eventually they stop speaking and assembling altogether,” O’Leary said.
