SFSU’s TPUSA reacts to Charlie Kirk assassination

Charlie Kirk throws “Make America Great Again” caps to attendees during his “American Comeback Tour” stop at the Mashouf Wellness Center field on May 6, 2025. (Haley Abarca)

Listen to the podcast here.

Intro

Paula Sibulo: 00:00 – 00:06

Last Wednesday, Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk was assassinated at Utah Valley University.

Seamus Geoghegan: 00:06 – 00:13

Golden Gate Xpress sat down with Takumi Sugawara, SF State’s Turning Point USA chapter president, to discuss the chapter’s plans moving forward.

Interview

Sibulo: 00:16 – 00:25

Welcome back to Gator Talk. I am here with Turning Point USA San Francisco State University Chapter President Takumi Sugawara. Takumi, thank you so much for being here.

Takumi Sugawara: 00:25 – 00:26

Well, thanks for having me. I appreciate it.

Sibulo: 00:26 – 00:28

Yeah. First things first, how are you doing?

Sugawara: 00:29 – 00:49

Yeah, I’m doing all right. It feels unreal that our founder passed away tragically last week, but a lot of us are hanging in there. We’re coming together. We’re doing alright, thank you.

Geoghegan: 00:50 – 00:55

What does the death of Charlie Kirk mean for those in the Turning Point USA chapter here at SF State?

Sugawara: 00:55 – 01:40

Well, we had him on campus last semester. We had a privilege to host one of his debates on campus. A lot of us conservatives look up to him. He was relatively young. He was 31 when he got shot. A lot of the stuff he was talking about were really relevant to us as Gen Zers. So, we lost the biggest conservative voice in the conservative movement. I think it’s shocking to all of us, but regardless of your political viewpoints, I think violence should be condemned.

Sibulo: 01:40 – 01:47

I’m curious about your relationship with Charlie Kirk. Did you ever speak to him or form a closer bond than just co-founder and chapter president?

Sugawara: 01:47 – 02:33

I met him a couple of times. I’m not super close to him, but he was someone who I look up to. I met him first back in 2023 when he came to San Jose State. I was volunteering for his evening speaker event and he took some time to talk to us. I chatted about how I came from Japan. He said some kind words to me. And when he came to our campus, I chatted with him briefly because he had to go somewhere.

02:33 – 03:14

He was really proud of what our chapter has created over the last couple of years. He was really sincere. He was really nice to us. And then obviously, I have seen him so many times over the course of two years or three years with my involvement with Turning Point. I’m not going to say he’s a friend of mine. He’s someone I just look up to. He’s someone who earns my respect.

Sibulo: 03:14 – 03:21

With the recent turn of events, do you feel like your safety is at risk? And other members of Turning Point USA?

Sugawara: 03:21 – 03:47

To be honest, I don’t know. As much as [ I ] don’t want to think about it. There are some concerns. I try my best to calm the situation down. I came to this podcast last year to talk about how we can create a nonpartisan free speech environment. That mission hasn’t changed since then.

3:47 – 4:13

So, I try my best to calm ourselves down, talk to one another without hating each other. We should battle over our ideas and not our characters. I hope people understand that. I hope we can unite together after all these incidents that happened.

Geoghegan: 04:13 – 04:21

And when you say nonpartisan, what do you mean? Because obviously Turning Point USA is a explicitly conservative group. So, what do you mean when you say that?

Sugawara: 04:21 – 04:37

That’s a good question. We are nonpartisan and we are a nonprofit organization that automatically means we cannot endorse certain candidates nor political parties as an organization.

Geoghegan: 04:37 – 04:39

But you do endorse specific political views?

Sugawara: 04:39 – 05:12

Yes, yes. Correct, correct. But that has nothing to do with the political affiliation, political party affiliation, nor do we publicly endorse candidates or legislations. We tend to lean towards conservatism — that is a fair assessment. But, also, we are open to free speech. We try to get as much viewpoints as we possibly can. The meetings that we have on campus are open to anyone, regardless of who you are or where you come from.

05:12 – 05:38

You can always join. I mean, I’m the testament to that. You know, I come here from Japan. I grew up there, but I am now serving as president for our chapter here. Regardless of what your ethnicities are, what your gender is, no matter what your background is, it’s still a place for you to talk about politics and social issues.

Sibulo: 05:38 – 05:53

And back to when you said that you are open to different political views. Do you feel like that’s been reflected in the guest speakers you’ve invited, like Chloe Cole and Riley Gaines, who tend to lean more conservative? Would you invite speakers who maybe are more liberal?

Sugawara: 05:53 – 06:29

No, because what we advocate for would be free market, free speech, limited government. So we tend to lean conservative. That’s our organization. We are not liberal. When we say nonpartisan, what we mean by is not in the sense that we don’t neutralize our viewpoint by having liberal speakers.

06:29 – 07:19

What we mean by that, since we don’t endorse certain candidates, we are open to having conversations on topics that liberals and conservatives disagree on. And we can hash out some of our differences, but we can also create an environment where we can agree to disagree but still have conversations. That’s what we mean by nonpartisan. We are not in the intent of inviting liberal speakers because that contradicts with what our mission statements are.

Sibulo: 07:11 – 07:24

So what you’re saying is that you’re facilitating free speech through conservative speakers that you invite. Where is the fine line between free speech and what people might assume as hate speech?

Sugawara: 07:24 – 08:11

When you incite violence, I think that’s pretty clear in the First Amendment. As long as you don’t incite violence, like physical violence on others, or you don’t threaten someone to take away their lives, you’re not inciting violence. And a lot of people ask me, ‘Isn’t Turning Point USA inciting violence through hate speech?’ but we are trying to fight against ideas and not people.

08:11 – 08:25

So, I hope people don’t conflate those two different things. I truly don’t think that people should be harmed because of their political viewpoints. That’s not what our intentions are.

Geoghegan: 08:25 – 08:42

That gets us to our next question, which is across the country, people have been let go from their jobs due to writings on social media that related to Kirk’s assassination, including Washington Post columnist Karen Attiah. As someone who advocates for civil discourse, what is your reaction to these firings?

Sugawara: 08:42 – 09:10

You know, that’s their decision. I mean, me personally, I don’t think you should be fired for saying stuff that offends people. But, you know, private entity, they have the right to fire people because of whatever reasons. I’m not getting into — I’m not going to call out certain companies for making those decisions.

09:10 – 09:37

Me personally, I don’t think people should be fired for their social media writings, but you should be allowed to say what you want. But I also think that you need to really think about what you should say. And then you shouldn’t attack or celebrate people’s deaths. I don’t think that’s something that our country’s founded on.

Geoghegan: 09:37 – 09:42

But those are obviously protected by the First –

Sugawara: 09:42 – 10:01

Yeah. I mean, if you’re not inciting violence, you shouldn’t be arrested for it. I think those are heinous comments. I strongly disagree with them. But those are not something that the law enforcement should be intervening, you know? Yeah, that’s what I think.

Sibulo: 10:01 – 10:12

More on reactions here at San Francisco State University, what has the reaction been since Kirk’s death towards Turning Point USA? What types of reactions have you received from the student body?

Sugawara: 10:12 – 10:41

Well, obviously we get a lot of private messages through social media. Overwhelmingly, it’s been pretty sympathetic. A lot of people sent us condolences, which we really appreciate, but some of the stuff I’m not gonna call specific examples.

10:41 – 11:11

But some people sent us a message saying that he deserved it and some negative comments about the assassinations. We’re not trying to further divide this political division, but I’m trying to do my best to honor his legacy and do what we can do to promote free speech.

11:1 – 11:20

So, yeah, it’s been overwhelmingly positive, but there are some comments that are disheartening.

Sibulo: 11:20 – 11:27

Has the national organization of Turning Point USA offered any guidance to the local chapters about how to move forward?

Sugawara: 11:27 – 11:55

Well, yeah. Since the incident happened, the office has been closed, and we’re trying to guide ourselves as our own entity. I mean, we’re not instructed anything to do as of now. A lot of the logistics have been paused for five or six days as of now.

11:55 – 12:13

So we as local chapters, we are trying our best to serve our local communities, serve our campus and try our best to do what we can do best, which is to promote free speech, but also, honor Charlie Kirk’s legacy, as I said.

Sibulo: 12:13 – 12:26

And what does that future look like for SF State as the president leading our chapter here? Are you more concerned with security measures? Are you more inclined to still invite speakers like Kirk, Gaines and Cole?

Sugawara: 12:26 – 12:56

Yeah, we’re not backing down. We’re going to have events this semester and the upcoming spring semesters. We are doing our best that we can. I’m in contact with the UPD and the dean of students about the recent incidents. We’re in communication to guide ourselves for secure, safe events.

12:56 – 13:18

But a lot of people think that taking this one big conservative voice will stop our movement. But we know exactly what we’re going to do because Charlie Kirk would have told us to move forward if he were here.

13:18 – 13:30

So we’re going to continue pushing what we were pushing, we’re going to fight against different ideas with more speech. That’s been my mission ever since I sworn into this role.

Geoghegan: 13:30 – 13:41

You’ve mentioned Charlie Kirk’s legacy a few times. In your own words, can you define Charlie Kirk’s legacy, what his viewpoints were and what resonated about them with you?

Sugawara 13:41 – 13:58

Resilience and courage. That’s pretty much what I would, kind of, summarize his legacy. He has been doing this for well over 10 years. And he has created one of the biggest conservative organizations in the country.

13:58 – 14:40

He started pretty small, but his resilience and his courage to be brave and speak of his mind, and a lot of people, us conservative men and also women, are moved by his courage

for standing up for his beliefs. I was one of them. I saw his video in my freshman year. And at the time, I wasn’t really political, but I felt the sense of not being able to speak up my beliefs without getting side-eyes or any backlash.

14:40 – 15:06

And he gave us some hope for a more brighter future for the conservative movement. And I really appreciate his resilience and courage for his faith, for his political views, but also for being so open-minded and being engaged in political discourse.

Geoghegan: 15:06 – 15:16

For those who might not be familiar, though, can you outline some of those views because you’re speaking quite generally about them, but more specifically, what resonates with you?

Sugawara: 15:16 – 15:46

Let’s see. Colorblind societies, meritocracy, free market, free exchange of ideas. When it comes to politics, I think, strong national securities, and I can go on, and on, and on, but those strong conservative values that Kirk advocated for I think really, really resonated with a lot of us in the conservative movements.

15:46 – 16:09

And yeah, he was outspoken for some of the cultural stuff as well. Like race relationships, gender relationships and all that. But mostly his commitment to free speech is something that I truly admire.

Sibulo: 16:09 – 16:20

Would you say the main driver in the assassination of Charlie Kirk’s death was political division? Not other topics like gun violence or gun control.

Sugawara: 16:20 – 17:04

Because guns don’t kill people. People kill people. I don’t think gun control has little to do with his assassination. I think people who are mentally ill can assassinate people. But I don’t think people — I don’t think gun control has anything to do with the assassination that happened. I mean, a lot of us are still pro-Second Amendment. I don’t think there’s a correlation between gun control and this assassination that happened last Wednesday.

Geoghegan: 17:04 – 17:22

I wanted to touch on that. I wanted to touch on Second Amendment rights and your views on them. Obviously, Kirk was a staunch defender of Second Amendment rights in the United States. Coming from Japan, where gun access is more heavily restricted, where do you stand on gun rights, and has that changed since Kirk’s killing?

Sugawara: 17:22 – 17:48

Not really, not really. I’m a staunch supporter of the Second Amendment. I believe that people should be able to own guns. I do believe in some sort of background checks. I don’t have any problem with it. There’s this one quote that a lot of people post on social media about Charlie Kirk defending –

17:48 – 18:17

Basically, he says that freedom has responsibilities, and sometimes, there’s gun death. Some people can interpret it as he can, kind of, be okay with gun violence. I think people can look it up, but I’m not one of those people. I think if Charlie Kirk meant it that way, I don’t think that’s the right approach.

18:17 – 18:59

I think any death tragedies, any gun violence deaths are tragedies. And we should be condemning those. But as I say, I don’t think guns kill people. You can use any weapon to take out someone’s life. But gun ownership is a foundation for America. That has been the case since its founding or way before its founding.

Sibulo: 18:59 – 19:01

Can you tell us what you have planned next?

Sugawara: 19:01 – 19:31

We’re going to put it out on social media so people can see it. I’m not gonna announce it here, but we’re planning something special, and then we’re going to continue doing what we’re doing. We’re gonna have more speakers. I’m not going to stop promoting free speech. And that’s our main goal. Although we are a conservative organization and then I do have certain conservative views,

19:31 – 19:48

the goal for me is to nourish that environment. And take as many people as we can into this movement of creating a safe environment where people can say the things they want to say, that’s my goal.

Geoghegan: 19:48 – 20:02

I know you want to create that environment where, like you said, anyone is welcome. You and anyone can say how they feel. But there are students who feel unsafe because of Turning Point’s presence on campus. How do you respond to those students?

Sugawara: 20:02 – 20:28

Well, just come talk to me, like I try to be respectful. I can be hostile to those who come off aggressive. But even in that case, I still try to be an active listener. I try to understand their political viewpoints. I offer mine, and then if they’re willing to be engaged, we’re going to talk about it.

20:28 – 20:51

I had this one long conversation with this — I don’t know if he was a student — but we had this long conversation, and he was like, “You know, you’re not you’re not the kind of person I thought you were going to be.” And the goal is to respect each other, even though we have political disagreements. That’s why I come on this podcast.

20:51 – 21:19

I truly appreciate you guys having me, having the willingness to talk to me and listen to my political viewpoints, and I try to be an example for others, not just for liberal students, but also for conservative students who are afraid of speaking of their political viewpoints on campus. So I try to approach both liberal students and the conservative students, and anyone in between.

Sibulo: 21:19 – 21:24

Well, that’s all the questions that I have. Thank you, Takumi, for being here.

Sugawara: 21:24 – 21:33

Absolutely, absolutely. Well, thank you. Thank you very much for having me, and I really appreciate your commitment for free press. I really appreciate it.

Outro

Sibulo: 21:36 – 21:43

Thanks for tuning in to our interview with Takumi Sugawara. Listen to more episodes of Gator Talk, The Chomp and more at goldengatexpress.org.