Students at a Rhode Island high school where a teacher mocked Charlie Kirk after his murder are launching a Turning Point USA chapter to promote conservative values and free speech on campus.
“What personally inspired me to start this Turning Point chapter was after Charlie Kirk’s death, the teacher at our school said, he made a TikTok about how he has no regrets about him and that he was a hateful person,” Brayden Ryan, vice president of the Turning Point USA chapter at Barrington High School in Rhode Island, told Fox News Digital in an interview on Tuesday.
Shortly after Kirk’s public killing on September 10, while speaking at Utah Valley University during his American Comeback Tour, social studies teacher Benjamin Fillo posted a video online saying that Kirk “hated the LGBTQ community” and “hated women’s rights.”
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Fillo, who was placed on administrative leave after his video post, also said in a video that Kirk “thought he proved how tough he was with his words… What a piece of garbage. Look what happens… Bye, Charlie!”
When conservative activist and mother Nicole Solas filed a public request to review Fillo’s curriculum, including handouts, assignments, videos, links, resources, guides, worksheets, workbooks, prompts and his emails, Barrington Public Schools said it would charge her $117,132 to collect all the materials. Solas is a mother who lives in another school district and whose children are in private school because the National Education Association Rhode Island (NEARI) sued her four years ago for sending public records requests.
Ryan, a freshman, said starting the chapter was “difficult” because of the area’s political demographics, but he and his fellow students are making progress.
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Barrington Public Schools recently made headlines after it said it would charge a mother $117,132 to view Fillo’s curriculum, including handouts, assignments, videos, links, resources, guides, worksheets, workbooks and prompts, as well as his emails. (Howard Schnapp/Newsday RM via Getty Images))
“I feel like we need to give space for other students, a free and safe space for other students, other conservative students, to express their own personal values, like their religious beliefs and their political beliefs,” Ryan said.
Caleb Kaplan, president of Turning Point USA, told Fox News Digital that some have supported their efforts, while others have campaigned to reinstate Fillo.
“I’m not going to name names out of respect, but they have been campaigning or petitioning to get the teacher we were talking about reinstated,” Kaplan said.
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Charlie Kirk speaks before he is killed during Turning Point’s visit to Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, Wednesday, September 10, 2025. (Tess Crowley/The Deseret News via AP)
Kaplan, who is also a freshman, said the group is trying to deal with the setback in a respectful way.
“We don’t reward hate with hate,” Kaplan said. “All we’re doing is pushing harder and trying to recruit more people to participate.”
“Barrington High School students are always welcome and encouraged to seek out new clubs that reflect their interests,” Sarah Dell, spokesperson for Barrington School District, told Fox News Digital. “As with all proposed student organizations, there is a process outlined in our Student Activities Protocol. The group of students expressing interest in forming a student chapter of Turning Point USA has been provided with that information. This is one of approximately a dozen new proposed student clubs currently going through the same process.”
Fox News Digital has also reached out to Fillo for comment.
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