A student at Fort Lewis College in Colorado was detained by campus police after striking an elderly man who was supporting the approval of a Turning Point USA chapter.
Student Megan Elizabeth Hope Mollett was recorded on video and later detained after she hit local resident Dave Peters on November 7 while he was celebrating the chapter’s approval. According to a report by Fox News, a Fort Lewis College campus police report was filed as “harassment,” and Mollett received a warning.
The report stated that roughly 70 people attended the meeting, many of whom held differing political views. An “elderly male” approached a student who was “booing and yelling,” then pulled out his phone to record the student. “The male was identified as Dave Peters and the student who appears female was later identified as Megan Mollett who goes by Nova and identifies as they/them. Mollett began to strike Peters [sic] phone and hand with an empty Taco Bell cup after he approached with his phone in his hand.”
Peters told Fox News he did not want to press charges but said the university should take disciplinary action.
“After they adjourned the meeting and the people started walking out, about 20 of us started clapping and then there was a fair amount of students that were booing,” Peters said. “Then, right after that, there was this 55-year-old or 60-year-old guy that later we found out he was a former professor at Fort Lewis College, and he started to come up to me, and he said, you’re a Nazi, you are a fascist and kept on repeating that.”
His comments referred to David Kozak, a retired professor who gained attention for his behavior at the meeting. Kozak was seen calling TPUSA supporters “Nazis” after becoming angered by the decision to approve the chapter.
The Associated Students of Fort Lewis College had approved the chapter in an emergency meeting after it was previously rejected, a decision that sparked backlash. The group was initially rejected following a petition, then a counter-petition supporting the chapter led to its final approval.
A spokesperson for the college commented on Mollett’s behavior to Fox News, saying, “All Fort Lewis College students are expected to uphold the standards outlined in our Student Code of Conduct. The college affirms the importance of free speech while maintaining expectations for civility and safety.”
