Leftist student accuses female-led chapter of being anti-woman
A liberal student was caught on video accusing TPUSA members of being anti-woman, however, the club’s president is a woman.
'Nobody f**king wants you here…' Pitt student Henry Cohen is heard saying.
Members of the University of Pittsburgh’s (Pitt) Turning Point USA (TPUSA) chapter were recently met with backlash while tabling on campus.
The group set up a display advertising their organization, and shortly after, a liberal student approached the table and accused the members present of being anti-woman.
A video of the interaction was posted on the chapter’s Instagram page, in which the perpetrator, identified as Pitt student Henry Cohen, is heard saying, “We all know that you’re trying to discriminate against our LGBTQ friends, our friends who are women, gender non-conforming, our friends who need abortion.”
[RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: College threatened criminal charges for conservatives tabling on campus]
“Nobody fucking wants you here, so good luck, you’re [going] to need it,” Cohen said before walking away.
Despite the student’s anti-woman claims, the TPUSA chapter is led by UPitt student Lili Orozco.
“Everyone has the right to voice their own thoughts. However, the manner [in which] he approached our table was very inappropriate,” Orozco told Campus Reform.
In response to Cohen’s claims against her organization, Orozco said, Cohen “neglected” to acknowledge that she “[sat] right in front of him.”
“They have taken away so much from what it means to be a woman; anyone and everyone may identify as a woman if they so choose,” she stated. “It was disrespectful and contradicted their proclaimed commitment to ‘inclusivity.’”
Cohen later returned to the table after changing into a Biden 2020 t-shirt. He also brought Democratic campaign materials, specifically PA Democratic Governor Nominee (at the time) Josh Shapiro materials, with him to hand out in front of the TPUSA table, another video shows.
“Everyone has the right to voice their opinions, he can campaign for anyone he would like to campaign for. What was not right, was how he would come over to our table when there was a student that showed interest and started harassing him/her,” Orozco said. “We were not just concerned for our safety, but we were concerned for our potential new members’ safety as well.”
Khaleil Laracuente, TPUSA’s vice president, wondered if Shapiro would have appreciated Cohen’s behavior.
“I wondered if Josh would have appreciated being represented by him considering his behavior 10 minutes before,” Laracuente told Campus Reform.
Laracuente added, “I think it’s important that the environment at Pitt should be welcoming to a conservative club or anyone who has a different opinion. Just like how it is a welcoming environment to the lgbtq community for example as Henry mentioned. It should be that way for everyone regardless of politics or anything else. We are all humans after all.”
In response to a media inquiry, Cohen told Campus Reform, “[I don’t know] man but the campus f[******] hates republicans so take that [as] you will.”
Campus Reform reached out to each party mentioned and this article will be updated accordingly.
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