Turning Point USA affiliates plead not guilty to harassing ASU instructor

Two Turning Point USA affiliates accused of harassing a queer Arizona State University professor pleaded not guilty via court documents filed with University Lakes Justice Court.

Kalen D'Almeida, 31, faces misdemeanor charges of harassment, assault and disorderly conduct. Braden Joel Ellis, 22, is charged with misdemeanor harassment.

The documents were filed on Dec. 18 but weren't entered into the court's case management system until Tuesday morning, officials said.

The charges come after two people confronted and injured writing instructor David Boyles in October. The incident occurred near the Fulton Garage on ASU's campus in Tempe. Turning Point USA said the people were their "crew members," describing them as a "reporter" and a "cameraman" with the online show "FRONTLINES."

Security footage of the incident obtained by The Arizona Republic via a public records request shows the two people following Boyles, who appears to rush toward the person filming him.

The surveillance video shows Boyles reaching toward the camera. He may have made contact with the person filming. The video then shows the other Turning Point USA affiliate rushing toward Boyles and pushing him onto the ground.

Turning Point USA has long maintained Boyles made the first move in the altercation. In an Instagram post describing the confrontation, Boyles said he was attempting to block the camera when he reached toward the person filming him.

ASU President Michael Crow later condemned the incident, calling the two Turning Point USA affiliates "cowards" and describing their actions as "the kind of outrageous conduct that you would expect to see from bullies in a high school cafeteria." He pledged that he and other university officials would "do all that we can to end the bullying and intimidation of our faculty members by Turning Point USA."

Turning Point USA officials told The Republic last month that D'Almeida and Ellis did nothing wrong.

"We will vigorously defend them and look forward to taking this into a courtroom where the very clear video evidence documenting this incident will quickly prevail over ASU's gaslighting and the media's propaganda," said Turning Point USA spokesperson Andrew Kolvet. "Our team members will be vindicated."

Attorney Kurt Altman, who represents D'Almeida and Ellis, did not immediately return The Republic's request for comment on Tuesday.

D'Almeida, Ellis involved in other confrontations

D'Almeida and Ellis have confronted people across the country in a manner similar to Boyles'.

In April, D'Almeida and Ellis followed and questioned a University of Arizona professor who specializes in queer studies. Video of the confrontation went viral online, racking up more than a million views on X, the website formerly known as Twitter.

Ultimately, that encounter ended without incident.

In July, D’Almeida and a cameraperson traveled to Hastings, Nebraska, to confront a 23-year-old whom the team had baited into talking with an alleged 12-year-old girl and planning a sexual encounter. The person was in the process of transitioning genders, according to Turning Point. Someone associated with Turning Point posed as the child beginning in February 2023, according to police.

The two-person crew confronted the person inside a Walmart, according to video of the incident posted by the conservative group. The person then ran away, asking to be left alone and taking a swipe at the person recording the encounter.

The person got in his car and closed the door, the video showed. D’Almeida then started knocking on the driver’s side window. The person backed up, their sedan striking a blue pickup truck before driving away.

Hastings police ultimately cited the 23-year-old for the hit-and-run. Still, they said it could not pursue charges because Nebraska law dictates that such sting operations can only be conducted by law enforcement and those investigations must follow exacting procedures.

"It is disappointing that no law enforcement entity was provided information prior to Frontlines' arrival in Hastings and confronting the 23-year-old," the department wrote in a September statement. "If this had been reported to Nebraska criminal investigators sooner, law enforcement could have potentially conducted their own investigation following Nebraska law."

Turning Point USA used footage of the incident, which went viral online, to launch a "Child Safety Unit" affiliated with its "FRONTLINES" show. The new unit "takes aim at hunting down predators for preying and grooming minors," according to an announcement emailed to people on the group's mailing list in September.

Accusing LGBTQ+ people of pedophilia and "grooming" young people to be victims of sexual abuse has reemerged in recent years as a common political attack by far-right conservatives.

Republic reporter Richard Ruelas contributed reporting to this article.

Sasha Hupka covers county government and regional issues for The Arizona Republic. She previously reported on higher education. Do you have a tip? Reach her at sasha.hupka@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @SashaHupka. Follow her on Instagram or Threads: @sashahupkasnaps.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Turning Point USA affiliates face harassment charges, plead not guilty