Students arriving to campus from Holloway Avenue were met with a truck with LED signage in support of Riley Gaines on Monday morning.
“Chloe Simson, if you support women, condemn the bullying and assault of Riley Gaines,” it read.
This was just one of the messages on the truck calling for action from specific people. Chloe Simson, Director of the Queer & Trans Resource Center (QTRC) and Shih-Hsung (Alex) Hwu, Dean of the College of Professional & Global Education were specifically named.
The truck belongs to Accuracy in Media, a conservative news organization with ties to Fox News, according to the organization’s President Adam Guillette.
Guillette was outside of the Cesar Chavez Student Center with a camera crew, asking students for their opinion on Thursday’s protest against former swimmer Riley Gaines. Claiming the truck would be on campus for weeks to come, Guillette speculated, “we may return Thursday, but the truck will be on campus for a few weeks.”
“We had initially assumed and had heard it was some LGBTQ group on campus that was responsible for the event,” said Guillette. “We wanted to go expose them, however they have since denied involvement. We don’t know.”
Accuracy in Media did not know if the protest was actually put on by an LGBTQ+ group on campus or not. They remained on campus for the rest of the day on Monday.
There were no confirmed sightings of the trucks nor Guillette’s return on Thursday.
“It’s become harassment, making it unsafe for us and all students,” said Dae Philpot, BIPOC coordinator for QTRC.
“We had a mixer Thursday night, which was nice and all, but we all went home after because we were tired,” Simson said. “There were already stories on Fox saying we coordinated the whole protest.”
Considering not only their own safety but with the safety they used to provide to the community, QTRC’s physical location has been closed since Monday.
“After the arrival of that truck we decided to close down,” said Lily Eiselt, QTRC office assistant. “We didn’t feel we could provide that safe space for trans students that we normally do.”
Despite these events, the QTRC plans to open its doors once again this Monday, April 17.
“We took the week off to let tensions die off, but we are coming back–full force next week,” said Jeremy Lark, QTRC assistant director. “We will not be intimidated out of our school.”
QTRC still plans to host its prom event on April 27 in Jack Adams Hall.
“The theme [is] Queer Villainy and it has become so relevant. If they want to paint us as villains we will embrace it,” Lark said.
