Students Shut Down Pro-ICE Neo-Nazi Demonstration on ASU Campus

On Friday, January 31st, up to a thousand students and community members mobilized against four neo-Nazis involved in College Republicans United, a group known for sponsoring numerous events featuring white supremacists. Students linked arms and stood in front of the neo-Nazis, who had set up a table and were encouraging students to report undocumented people on campus to ICE and called on the Trump regime to escalate its attacks on DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) recipients.

Protesters handed out zines outing the neo-Nazis to the student body along with information on the rights of undocumented people. At one point, a protester flipped the neo-Nazis’ table over. After about an hour, the fascists packed up and left. As AZ Central reported, “They were opposed by hundreds, who protested by marching in a circle around them and led chants in support of the immigrant community.”

On BlueSky, Arizona Right Watch reported, “Only one [student], Isaiah Alvarado, is a confirmed student at ASU, the others include white supremacists Ryan Sanchez, Colton Buss and Kevin Decuyper.” As Arizona Right Watch documented, the members of College Republicans United have clear neo-Nazi politics and are linked to violent white supremacist organizations. According to AZ Central:

Kevin Decuyper, previously attracted local media attention for his pattern of ethno-nationalist comments online. That included disparaging “the J’s” and musing about how to carry out “the final solution,” the Nazi policy of exterminating Jews, in a “clean and effective” way. Decuyper has since continued to associate with an anti-Jewish student group.

Ryan Sanchez is a former member of Identity Evropa and the Rise Above Movement, neo-Nazi organizations that have a history of violence. Colton Buss, another neo-Nazi, was recently reported on in The Nation:

Buss is currently under investigation for his behavior toward an interracial couple in the Washington State Young Republicans and, separately, for his treatment of a Jewish man who is affiliated with the organization.

According to the Phoenix New Times:

Isaiah Alvarado, the group’s president, avoided questions from reporters…Kevin Decuyper, a past CRU president and aide to ex-Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, wore an “America First” hat and held up a shoddily written, barebones sign with an ICE hotline URL and a clipboard with its phone number. When asked by protesters why he supported Trump’s pardons for Jan. 6 insurrectionists while calling undocumented immigrants “criminals,” Decuyper seemed at a loss for words. Decuyper has not had trouble expressing virulently antisemitic views online, though. College Republicans United — not to be confused with the school’s other, more mainstream college Republicans group — has a history of far-right extremism.

In 2023, it hosted an event featuring white nationalist Nick Fuentes that got the group into hot water for erroneously naming county Republicans as supporters. A year earlier, the group invited white nationalist Jared Taylor onto campus to give a speech, costing ASU $11,000 in security expenses. In 2019, Phoenix New Times reported the contents of a group chat in which CRU members shared racist, antisemitic and homophobic sentiments.

Despite the open neo-Nazi politics of College Republicans United and their promotion of white supremacist and anti-Semitic speakers and ideas, Arizona State University has continuously shelled out thousands to provide security for their events, while pushing to suppress anti-war protests in support of Palestine, and ban speakers that support the BDS movement.