Administrators canceled an event organized by the NYU College Republicans featuring three conservative influencers Wednesday afternoon after one of the speakers publicly requested that attendees “carry a firearm” and “provide security.” Slated for Thursday, the on-campus panel about immigration in the United States faced backlash from thousands of university community members, who said it promoted white supremacy and xenophobia.
In a statement announcing the event’s cancellation, NYU spokesperson John Beckman said that the university notified police about the “threatening developments” published by panelist Elijah Schaffer, creator of the conservative publication Rift TV. In an X post, Schaffer called for “armed security” at the event — set to take place at the Kimmel Center for University Life — after several student groups condemned it on social media.
“We have a zero tolerance policy with respect to violence, and we have a responsibility to the safety of our community,” Beckman wrote. “In addition, complaints regarding our NDAH policies will be investigated.”
I need armed security tomorrow in New York in the evening
If you have connections or are able to carry a firearm and can provide security
Please DM me a lead / rates
Thanks pic.twitter.com/UaY30Llc8g
— E (@ElijahSchaffer) April 9, 2025
The panel — titled “Immigrant Invasion,” with the subheading “You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here” — was set to feature Schaffer, a Rift TV reporter Sarah Stock and Lucian Wintrich, the press chairman of a young Republicans’ club in Manhattan. The panelists marketed the event on social media with a caricature of two Black men, one holding a knife, towering over three white people wearing angel wings.
In less than 24 hours, over 3,000 people signed a petition demanding that NYU cancel the “white supremacist event” before Beckman issued the statement. The petition, put up by NYU’s chapter of Students for a Democratic Society and endorsed by over 40 on-campus groups, widely circulated social media on Wednesday. NYU SDS also called on signatories to send a pre-written email to the Office of the President, Director of the Kimmel Center Amanda Suric and the Center for Student Life, encouraging administrators to cancel the event.
NYU SDS member Ebtesham Ahmed criticized NYU’s statement for only acknowledging security threats and not addressing the content of the panel. Ahmed said the university “failed to create a safe environment” for students by allowing the organization and promotion of the panel and only taking action after dozens of student organizations condemned it.
After NYU canceled the panel, the petition continued to receive hundreds of signatories — hitting over 4,500 total by the time it closed. The petition also called on NYU to condemn white supremacy and commit to the “safety and dignity of all students,” citing the recent desecration in a Bobst Library prayer room and a “racist hack” that accused NYU of “illegal discrimination.”
Saha Guerrero, president of the NYU College Democrats, also said the university should have criticized the College Republicans in its statement and did not adequately sanction the group for “openly inviting people who align themselves with neo-Nazis.”
“What’s even more disgraceful is that NYU College Republican leaders are too cowardly to take responsibility for their actions,” Guerrero said in an interview with WSN. “They inflicted a lot of damage on our student body, and they clearly don’t understand what it means to protect a community that is under attack by the very politicians that they continue to champion.”
The NYU College Republicans deleted its initial Instagram posts promoting the event around 5 p.m. Wednesday. The group declined to comment.
Tasha Savas, the vice president of the NYU College Democrats, told WSN that her organization had coordinated a press conference with Councilmember Keith Powers — who is currently running for Manhattan Borough President — to take place right before the immigration panel, in an effort to raise citywide awareness about the now-canceled event.
After the event’s cancellation, Schaffer said that NYU “intentionally convoluted” his words and claimed that he was “never calling for violence, implied violence or called for people to be armed at the event.” Schaffer said that students sent him “valid threats on social media” on his life and threatened to take legal action against NYU if it doesn’t retract the Wednesday statement.
In 2017, NYU leadership postponed the College Republicans’ event featuring Wintrich due to “a lack of time to plan for a safe event.” In the same year, the conservative think tank Propertarian Institute rented a classroom in the Kimmel Center under a false name, “Seattle Commercial Fitness,” for a six-hour roundtable discussion about Anglo-conservative topics. Soon after, the university updated its policy to require all third-party organizers to be affiliated with NYU organizations or departments to reserve a room.
President Linda Mills sent an email to the NYU community Tuesday night announcing that “some members” of the university have been affected by President Donald Trump’s student visa revocations amid his crackdown on pro-Palestinian protesters on U.S. college campuses.
“By trying to put on an event like this, the NYU College Republicans are promoting the demonization of immigrants,” Guerrero said. “Our community is under assault by the highest office in the land, we ought to engage in acts of community support rather than harming our community that’s already being put in harm’s way by the politicians.”
Contact Amanda Chen at achen@nyunews.com.
This story NYU cancels College Republicans event after panelist requests ‘armed security’ appeared first on Washington Square News.