At least three people raised their arms in Nazi salutes toward protesters outside Turning Point USA's “America: Love It or Leave It” tour stop at Cal Poly's Performing Arts Center on Wednesday, with one man caught on video shouting “Sieg heil” and “Heil Hitler.” The gestures came as rooftop security personnel, identified by onlookers as snipers, watched from atop the nearby Vista Grande Dining Complex. The event, which featured conservative speakers Tulsi Gabbard, Riley Gaines, Nick Shirley and Will Witt, drew condemnation from university officials and the Anti-Defamation League.
The tour stop was documented in detail by sanluisobispo.com, which reported that a video captured two men repeatedly performing the salutes toward demonstrators gathered outside the venue. The Tribune identified the pair as Nima Poursohi and Jonathan Mellis, according to the outlet's reporting. Mellis was identified in that same report as a known Proud Boy who was pardoned by President Trump after storming the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021.
Mustang News, the student publication that first documented two men making Nazi salutes toward protesters outside the PAC, reported that Poursohi wore a “Persians for Trump” shirt during the confrontation, while a second attendee wore a “Make California Golden Again” hat and a floor-length fur jacket. According to Mustang News, the two men heckled protesters and posed for several photographs in front of the demonstration before making the gestures.
What One Attendee Told Student Reporters
Poursohi told Mustang News he attended the event to show support for the conservative movement and predicted a “red wave revolution” in the November midterm elections. He acknowledged protesters' right to demonstrate but questioned the effectiveness of the protest, saying demonstrators had freedom of speech but that their presence would not stop attendees from entering. Poursohi also said he wanted to fight the liberal establishment, voiced support for mass deportations, and described LGBTQ+ people and Islam as “the biggest forms of cancer on planet earth,” per the student outlet's account.
Cal Poly Associate Vice President Beya Makekau condemned the gestures, calling the individuals' actions “antisemitic, deplorable,” as reported by gvwire.com. Cal Poly student Madison Roth said protesters heard slurs and insults during the demonstration and that security personnel and police officers on site did not adequately respond, according to the sanluisobispo.com report.
Conflicting Attendance Figures and Spokesperson Response
The event drew hundreds of attendees and more than 70 protesters, per gvwire.com's reporting. But Turning Point spokesperson Andrew Kolvet offered a different figure, telling reporters the event drew more than 1,200 attendees, with hundreds waiting outside and others turned away because of capacity limits, the same outlet reported. Kolvet also said the organization could not control or take responsibility for bystanders' actions at a public event, telling sanluisobispo.com, “we can't control everything that happens, let alone take responsibility for the actions of a few bystanders.”
Rooftop security personnel were visible atop the Vista Grande Dining Complex throughout the event, and a photograph published by Mustang News identified the rooftop personnel as snipers, according to gvwire.com's account. The security presence echoes a Charlie Kirk memorial held at the same Performing Arts Center in September 2025, when Cal Poly paid about $5,963 for security and stationed SWAT officers atop the same dining complex, according to prior sanluisobispo.com reporting. That earlier memorial, which drew roughly 1,000 people, did not draw a major counterprotest. Cal Poly's security spending for high-profile speakers has varied widely over the years; the university and the California State University system together spent more than $86,000 securing Milo Yiannopoulos's 2017 campus visit.
Speakers' Remarks Drew Their Own Backlash
Beyond the salutes outside, speakers inside the Performing Arts Center made remarks that drew separate criticism. Riley Gaines said Sharia Law, the religious law that informs Islamic tradition, is “rooted in child marriages, honor killings [and] pedophilia,” according to Mustang News. Will Witt criticized the Boy Scouts' name change to Scouting America and used a transphobic slur while mocking the organization, the same outlet reported.
Part of a Bigger National Tour
Cal Poly's stop was one leg of Turning Point USA's six-stop “America: Love It or Leave It” college tour, announced for fall 2026 with a stated focus on American pride, free speech and the nation's founding principles, according to barrettmedia.com. The tour has sparked protests at multiple campuses nationwide, including stops at Dartmouth College and the University of Miami, per gvwire.com. At the University of Nevada, Reno, student groups including Young Democrats, the National Organization for Women and Sunrise protested outside the student union on Oct. 5, according to thisisreno.com, with demonstrators marching from the campus's “Big N” landmark to the student union, as reported by nevadasagebrush.com. The University of Minnesota's Turning Point USA chapter hosted Riley Gaines on Oct. 14, drawing a protest from Students for a Democratic Society, according to mndaily.com, which also reported that a University of St. Thomas student withdrew from the school after a video showed the student yelling an anti-immigrant insult while entering a separate Turning Point USA event.
