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A a social media user later claimed responsibility for the video, and doubled-down with the antigay slur.
A Black gay conservative influencer was showered with chants of “f*gg*t” by a group of white supremacists at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest on Sunday evening.
Rob Smith posted a video to X, formerly known as Twitter, on Monday showing him being accosted by a group of young white men wearing dark suits with white shirts at the annual conservative conference. The event draws a broad spectrum of conservative notables including TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk, actress Roseanne Barr, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, conservative commentator, and sportswriter Jason Whitlock among others.
“Last night in Phoenix, I was confronted and surrounded by some White Supremacists that don’t like gays or blacks in the Republican Party,” Smith posted to X.
The video appears to open after the incident began and shows Smith filming the group of young men and saying “I’ve got some fans here.”
The group then begins chanting, “Gay sex!” to which Smith responds, “Yes, Nick Fuentes loves gay sex,” referring to the far-right political commentator who was permanently banned from YouTube in 2020 after violating the platform’s hate speech policy with homophobic, racist, and misogynistic content.
The group at Turning Point erupted in boos in response and chanted, “F*gg*t!”
Smith wrote on X that they shouted racial and antigay slurs. "However, I served in Iraq. I never back down. Ever," Smith said.
Shortly after the video was posted, a man claimed to have filmed the video responded in the comments of Smith’s post.
User Iggy Normus, Jr. claimed responsibility for the video and denied a racial slur was used in the incident. He then indirectly used the homophobic slur to disparage Smith once more.
When a user called him “disgusting and should be banned from society,” Normus responded, “No, homosexuality should be.”
Similar homophobic comments and posts appear common for Normus. He recently objected to the announcement that gay conservative pundit Guy Benson and his husband were expecting a baby via surrogacy.
He also retweeted a post claiming the couple has “rented a womb to acquire a baby” and characterized the event as “wicked and an abomination before God.”
The reaction to the video drew a wide variety of responses. Many were in support of Smith and sharply criticized Normus. Some however criticized Smith for expecting a gay Black conservative to be accepted at Turning Point.
Smith has taken positions on hot-button issues that have angered some conservatives.
The tweet drew a strongly negative response from one popular online conservative personality.
Turning Point USA was in the news in October for an incident involving a film crew and an instructor at Arizona State University. David Boyles, a teacher at the school and the co-founder of Drag Story Hour Arizona, said the cameraman and the interviewer from Turning Point assaulted him. Video of the incident appears to show Boyles pushing away the camera before he is pushed to the ground by the interviewer asking questions.
The Advocate reached out to Normus for comment on the video shortly prior to publication and will include any statements if they become available.
