‘Never back down to a woke mob!’ Upset audience brings Ryan Walters speaking event to abrupt end
STILLWATER, Okla. (KFOR) — A town hall event with State Superintendent Ryan Walters, hosted on OSU’s campus by a campus conservative organization, only lasted about 15 minutes Wednesday after some in the audience incessantly shouted at Walters.
Walters began the event telling the audience to “never back down to a woke mob.” 12 minutes later, organizers ushered Walters out of the room.
The event was put on by the OSU chapter of national conservative Group Turning Point USA (TPUSA).
TPUSA billed the event as a “town hall” with Walters on flyers it posted around campus.
Walters has only participated in Q&A style events with the general public a handful of times since taking office in January 2023.
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The event attracted well over 100 students and community members to a lecture hall inside OSU’s engineering building, some of whom told News 4 they supported Walters, and others who said they did not.
But they all did have one thing in common: they came to the event, because it was a rare opportunity to hear from Walters, and ask him questions.
“I just kind of wanted to see, honestly what he had to say,” OSU student Ryann Sadler told News 4.
“OSU has a very big queer community, and we want to make sure we show up for them,“ said OSU student John Johnson, who helped lead a protest outside the lecture hall hosting the event before it began. “We have people inside who are going to ask them some very hard questions.”
“Even myself, who considers myself a Democrat, I still think it’s very important to hear what he has to say,” OSU student Victoria Anton said.
“I was happy to hear what he had to say,” OSU student Ryan Williamson said.
But hearing what Walters had to say proved easier in theory than in practice.
Walters entered the lecture hall greeted by a mix of roughly 40 percent cheers, 60 percent boos.
Soon, many who opted for the latter greeting began shouting at Walters from the audience.
“You’re a murderer!”
“Nex Benedict’s blood is on your hands!”
“You’re the one that’s scared!”
“55 percent of Oklahomans want you impeached!”
—Are just some of the many things they shouted.
At first, Walters persisted.
“They’re gonna yell, they’re gonna scream, they’re gonna say outrageous things,” Walters said of the hecklers. “There’s a few of them that are crying right now.”
Walters then turned, and addressed the shouters directly.
“I don’t care about your feelings,” he told them.
They responded with more shouts, laughs and eye rolls.
“Where are the grants!”
“Where’s your budget Mr. Walters!”
—They loudly questioned.
Walters responded back.
“There’s two genders,” he told the crowd.
The back and forth between Walters and the crowd continued over, and over, and over again.
“If you back down to a mob, they will get their way,” Walters declared at one point.
“Answer our questions!” someone shouted back.
“Let’s talk about a woke mob,” Walters later said.
“Let’s talk about facts!” several audience members shouted back.
Later, Walters repeated one of his earlier points.
“Never, never back down to a woke mob,” he told the audience.
A few minutes in, TPUSA leaders handed a microphone to students they’d chosen to ask Walters questions.
“I asked him what advice he had for someone looking to enter the field of politics,” Sadler said.
“I asked him how he responded to leftist media and activists,” Williamson said.
Of course, the shouting continued throughout all of this, and Walters chose to not use a microphone when responding to their questions.
News 4 was unable to hear Walters’ answers to their questions from the back of the lecture hall.
Then came more shouting.
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“Where’s your staff! Where’s your budget!” Walters’ detractors all shouted in unison.
“OSU! OSU! OSU! OSU! OSU!” Walters’ supporters later shouted in an attempt to drown out the shouts from the detractors.
It all eventually came to a head. The main organizer from TPUSA walked up and whispered something to Walters.
After that, Walters waved to the crowd, mouthed the words “thank you” and was ushered out the back door by event organizers.
Only 12 minutes had passed since Walters told the crowd to “never, never back down to a woke mob.”
The abruptness left students from both groups in the audience, yearning for more.
“I wish that I would have heard more of what he had to say because you know, that’s why I came,” Sadler said.
“It just felt like I wanted to hear more,” Anton said.
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