A new report has exposed the federal government’s taxpayer-funded collaboration with universities and nongovernment organizations (NGOs) to associate Turning Point USA and other conservative organizations with Nazi ideology and terrorism.
The Media Research Center (MRC) exposed a Department of Homeland Security program that has been weaponized against Christians and conservatives. The MRC’s report exposes the DHS as one of the main drivers of the “extremism” narrative adopted by nearly every liberal activist and used to demonize the right and justify violence against conservatives.
The propaganda created by these organizations, with the financial backing of the federal government, has been used to manufacture a hostile environment for conservatives on campuses and in workplaces around the country.
The DHS’s Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention Grant Program (TVTP) awarded 80 grants to “various public, private, and non-profit institutions — such as universities and county governments” costing taxpayers $39,611,999 in total.
According to the MRC, information in the report was procured through several Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests and “directly from DHS grant recipients and other related organizations revealing the true and nefarious nature” of the federal government’s actions.
One such recipient was the University of Dayton, which the MRC stated was “among the most radical grantees” awarded “$352,109 to create the PREVENTS-OH program, which promised to draw on the expertise of the University of Dayton faculty to fight domestic violent extremism and hate movements.”
The university’s grant application, approved by the DHS, contained a graphic comparing mainstream conservative organizations such as Turning Point USA, PragerU, Breitbart, the National Rifle Association, and more to extremist groups like The Base, described by Fox News as a “neo-Nazi paramilitary group,” and the Daily Stormer, “a pro-Nazi publication.”
The PREVENTS-OH initiative also hosts seminars to advance the liberal operative agenda and to train audience members to participate in illicit actions meant to “destabilize” political movements.
Michael Loadenthal, a guest lecturer at one such seminar, Research Fellow at the University of Cincinnati, and self-described Antifa member, “explain[ed] in detail how to create dummy accounts on free speech social media platforms like Telegram, Gab and Rumble” according to MRC, with the desire to undermine conservative platforms and act as instigators.
Infographic presented by University of Cincinnati researcher Michael Loadenthal at the University of Dayton seminar titled “White Nationalism Workshop.” (Image from University of Dayton’s YouTube channel.)
Loadenthal led this seminar with DHS agent Joseph Masztalics, who seemingly agreed with and approved of the tactics being strategized in the seminar. Loadenthal encouraged the audience to participate in de-platforming, the act of denying conservative organizations and individuals “any sort of public sphere access” and “denying them the ability to speak.”
The tactics employed would make Saul Alinsky blush, as Loadenthal admits, they are not always above board. “A lot of the things we are doing are illegal,” he explained to the audience. “What I’m saying, what I’m telling you, a lot of it is, involves breaking the law. And this is what the FBI will say. I’ve had many conversations with the FBI about this.”
Loadenthal argued that to successfully fulfill all that their ideology demands, liberals must “shut down” conservative websites, “close [conservative’s] meetings,” and “prevent them from assembling in public,” — a tactic TPUSA’s student-led chapters are all too familiar with.
Fox News reported that at the time this seminar was held in 2021, the University of Dayton was not yet a TVTP grant recipient but was awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer funds the following year.
Other professors from the university featured in similar lectures claimed that individuals who expressed a negative sentiment towards the COVID-19 lockdowns were likely to be “those holding extremist beliefs.”
Turning Point USA, being one of the primary organizations targeted by liberal activists, is well-versed in the tactics employed by the radical left to silence their ideological opposition. Could this report explain why student events are shut down by school administrators? Or why students are radicalized to the point of destroying their own school’s property in a fit of rage because a conservative speaker has arrived on campus?
The MRC report states that the information documented only “scratches the surface” of the “nefarious TVTP grant program.”
“What we have uncovered calls for criminal prosecution. The American people need to know those who are abusing their positions in the federal government will be held accountable for their criminal behavior," said Brent Bozell, founder and president of the Media Research Center.
This piece originally appeared on TPUSA.
