Men gave Nazi salutes at a Turning Point event in California. Here’s how the group responded
Three people performed Nazi salutes while taunting protesters outside the Turning Point USA event held at Cal Poly on Wednesday, drawing condemnation and calls for change from San Luis Obispo students and community members.
Turning Point’s “America: Love It or Leave It” tour was held at the Performing Arts Center on campus on Wednesday night and hosted a slate of conservative speakers, including Tulsi Gabbard, Riley Gaines, Will Witt and Nick Shirley.
The local tour stop attracted hordes of attendees who stood in line waiting for the doors to open ahead of time.
During the wait, at least three people raised their arms in Nazi salutes toward a group of protesters chanting in opposition to the event, video footage showed.
Cal Poly student Madison Roth, who is Jewish and was participating in Wednesday’s protest, witnessed all three men perform the Nazi salutes, and said she and other protesters also heard a myriad of slurs and insults hurled their way.
She felt that the security personnel and police officers on site did not adequately respond to the situation, and is now calling on the university to make changes to the way its Police Department responds to incidents like these.
“It was extremely disheartening to see the lack of support and the lack of protection that Cal Poly afforded its own students, as opposed to the demonstrators,” she said. “So on that note, I would say that what student leadership is calling for is a dialogue with Cal Poly police that actually responds and protects students against these outside agitators that are coming to campus.”
A Turning Point spokesperson issued a statement to The Tribune on Friday morning but did not expressly denounce the actions observed outside its event or offer any apologies for drawing antisemitic agitators to the San Luis Obispo campus.
Instead, the statement highlighted the large turnout for the tour stop, which it described as a “massive success.”
“As with any public event, we can’t control everything that happens, let alone take responsibility for the actions of a few bystanders,” spokesperson Andrew Kolvet told The Tribune. “Nor do we think distracting from the actual message of our speakers and students is a fair journalistic representation of what this event was all about — faith, family, country, decency and a return to common sense.”
Videos show Turning Point attendees raising arms in Nazi salutes
At least two videos captured the three men raising their arms in Nazi salutes at the crowd of protesters.
One video, which was shared on Instagram by the account @flockythefrog and later obtained by The Tribune, showed a man raising his arm at the protestors and shouting “Sieg heil” and “Heil Hitler” while walking past. A separate video from another angle showed the man raised his arms multiple times in the same manner.
“Everybody else is just OK with that?” a person asks on the video. “You have open Nazis right here.”
Additionally, a video documented by student journalists with Mustang News and later shared on the news outlet’s Instagram showed two men repeatedly performing Nazi salutes at the protesters.
One of the men, who identified himself to The Tribune as Ventura-area resident Nima Poursohi, then morphed his salute into a gesture considered derogatory toward disabled communities, the video showed.
The other man captured on the video saluting alongside Poursohi was identified by The Tribune as Jonathan Mellis — a known Proud Boy who was pardoned by President Trump after storming the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021.
After performing multiple Nazi salutes, Mellis also flashed an OK gesture, commonly adopted by white supremacists in recent years.
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Both Poursohi and Mellis reposted a video of the incident on their Instagram stories with the caption: “We love mocking those libtards when they call us Nazis.”
Cal Poly responds to Nazi salutes witnessed on campus
The university issued a message to the campus community on Thursday afternoon condemning the incidents as part of an update on the university’s efforts to combat antisemitism.
“Unfortunately, we don’t need to look far to recognize the need for this work,” senior diversity officer and vice president for culture and institutional excellence Beya Makekau said. “Just yesterday individuals on campus were seen saluting in a Sieg Heil gesture while engaging with protestors at the TPUSA event.”
“The individuals’ actions were antisemitic, deplorable and in direct opposition to the culture of inclusion, respect and empathy that we strive to uphold at Cal Poly,” Makekau continued.
In the last few years, Cal Poly has worked to boost its responses to antisemitism after the Anti-Defamation League graded the university poorly on its annual antisemitism report cards, though opinions among Jewish students and leaders about the severity of antisemitism on campus varied from individual to individual, Tribune reporting found.
Earlier this year, Cal Poly’s Jewish fraternity was also the victim of a reported antisemitic hate crime after a group of men allegedly hurled slurs at fraternity members and assaulted one person.
“There is still important work ahead, but I remain hopeful because of the strength, resilience, and collective commitment of our Cal Poly community,” Makekau said. “Let us turn that hope into action and continue building a Cal Poly where hate never defines us, our shared humanity unites us, and our collective commitment to one another creates a future where every student, staff, and faculty can thrive.”
Community reacts to Nazi salutes at Cal Poly SLO
Cal Poly ASI president Tanner Schinderle also condemned the actions witnessed outside the Turning Point event in a statement posted on Instagram, calling the Nazi salutes an “unmistakable act of hate and intimidation.”
“This is not complicated,” he said. “These actions were intentional, hateful and unacceptable.”
Schinderle said leaders have a duty to “unequivocally condemn” the individuals’ actions.
“We cannot become desensitized to hate simply because we encounter it repeatedly,” he said. “We must continue to call it out, support those impacted by it, and work toward a community where every student knows that they belong.”
The Tribune also reached out to Anti-Defamation League regional director Joshua Burt for his organization’s response to the incident.
“The Nazi salute is the most common antisemitic, white supremacist hand sign in the world,” he said. “This is hate. Turning Point USA must immediately condemn it clearly and unequivocally.”
Burt also expressed thanks to Cal Poly and Schinderle for their statements condemning the incidents.
This story was originally published October 24, 2026 at 7:59 AM with the headline “Men gave Nazi salutes at a Turning Point event in California. Here’s how the group responded.”
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