Towson U Wanted to Vet “No Kings” Speakers

After Towson University officials said they planned to vet the names of speakers for security reasons, students moved their “No Kings” rally off campus, The Baltimore Banner reported.

Over the weekend, thousands of people across the country participated in “No Kings” rallies, protesting what they perceive to be President Donald Trump’s abuse of executive power. That included many Towson University students, who had originally planned to hold the protest on the Maryland campus. But when university administrators began asking for the names and addresses of speakers, organizers moved the rally off campus to avoid “[putting] them in harm’s way,” one organizer told the Banner.

Student organizers said they were concerned that “the university … would then pass [speakers’ names] to the FBI, when we know that the president wants to come after those types of people,” though the university clarified that it doesn’t run visitors’ names through FBI background checks. This year, the federal government has detained numerous international university students who have made public statements the Trump administration disagrees with as part of its broader crackdown on higher education institutions and immigrants. 

While the student organizers said this was the first they’d heard of Towson running background checks on speakers, the university said that regardless of an event’s content, the practice is part of its standard protocol “to determine level of security needed for each event,” according to the Banner. 

One of the event organizers said an administrator alluded to the potential threat of political violence against the speakers. 

The protest, which was moved to Riderwood Hills Park off campus, happened about a month after right-wing activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated during an event at Utah Valley University and heightened concerns about political violence on campus.