After being harassed and assaulted by leftist militants earlier this week, the founder of a conservative organization for young people and the group’s communications director vow to remain civil and not respond in kind.
While dining at the Green Eggs Cafe in Philadelphia on Monday morning, Turning Point USA’s founder, Charlie Kirk, and communications director Candace Owens were accosted by left-wing activists.
The mob, said to be self-styled Antifa “anti-fascist” militants, reportedly shrieked and shouted at Kirk and Owens for several minutes.
“The protesters were screaming ‘white supremacist’ and something about immigrants,” the cafe’s manager, Malik Joe, told The Washington Post, adding that the protesters also hurled food and other objects.
Kirk was even doused with a beverage.
Owens, who is black, thanked the minority police officers who protected them from further harm, noting the irony of the far-left white protesters decrying “racism.”
Kirk and Owens described the encounter on Fox News Channel host Sean Hannity’s program that night.
“Candace and I said, ‘You know what? Let’s just stand here for a couple of minutes and show them that we’re not going to back down,’” Kirk said. “Very peacefully, we’re not going to retaliate if things get thrown of us. We don’t want to play the ‘victim card’ here. That’s what the left does all the time.”
“We felt it was an important moment to show America exactly what we are fighting, because not many people understand,” Owens added. “This is real. They’ve grown increasingly violent, because they understand that they are losing.”
Kirk’s and Owens’ remarks on “Hannity” echoed observations they made in a joint exclusive interview with The Daily Signal at Turning Point USA’s High School Leadership Summit on July 25 in Washington.
The Turning Point leaders shared the importance of civil discourse and positive energy.
“People that go after us, people that go after our organization—their life is about destroying and ruining. I don’t want to be a part of that. We’re about building. We wake up every single day [thinking] how to make something bigger, stronger, better,” Kirk said. “Of course, you are going to have ups and downs. So, you have those two buckets, right? What kind of energy are you going to put in the world—energy that’s determined to destroy or to build? We’re builders, and we’re going to keep doing that.”
Owens added: “What you put out, you take in. So, if that’s the energy, you wake up every day thinking, ‘How can I destroy something?’ You will eventually eat that sort of destruction. We genuinely believe that, and we are hyper-focused on having … [an] optimistic influence in this world and inspiring our children, our students, to the exact same impact.”
