EXCLUSIVE: In Custody, UW Student Claims He Was “Protecting Campus” in Charlie Kirk Altercation

SEATTLE, WA – From a holding cell in the King County Jail, 21-year-old University of Washington engineering student Marcus Thorne spoke exclusively with this publication, offering a defiant and detailed account of the events that led to his arrest following a physical altercation at a Turning Point USA event featuring commentator Charlie Kirk.

Thorne, who faces charges of disorderly conduct and assault, does not deny making physical contact with Kirk but frames his actions as a necessary intervention against what he calls “hate speech” and a “direct threat” to the safety of his fellow students.

The incident occurred on the evening of January 26th, as Kirk was exiting the sold-out event at the university’s Kane Hall. Video footage from attendees shows a chaotic scene near a service entrance, with protesters and supporters clustered together. In the video, a individual, allegedly Thorne, can be seen lunging toward Kirk, making contact before being swiftly subdued by event security and later detained by campus police.

But Thorne’s narrative paints a very different picture of intent.

“This isn’t about politics; it’s about principle,” Thorne began, his hands cuffed in front of him. “Charlie Kirk and his organization don’t come to campus to debate. They come to incite. They single out transgender students, students of color, and progressive faculty by name, painting targets on their backs for their millions of followers. My actions, in that moment, were about de-escalating a volatile situation that security was failing to control.”

Thorne claims the atmosphere outside the hall was “electrified with tension.” He alleges that as Kirk moved through the crowd, members of his security detail and some event attendees were “aggressively shoving” protesters who were chanting slogans.

“I saw a young woman, she couldn’t have been more than 100 pounds, get pushed to the ground by a man in a suit with an earpiece. Kirk was just smiling, waving, egging it on,” Thorne stated. “It was a powder keg. I believed, in that split second, that the situation was about to erupt into a full-blown riot. My thought was: if the source of the incitement is removed, the tension breaks.”

When pressed on what “removed” meant, Thorne became evasive. “I intended to create a barrier between him and the students he was provoking. I wanted to force his security to focus on him, not on shoving students. Was I going to tackle him? No. Was I going to get in his face and make him back up? Absolutely. I wanted him to feel even an ounce of the intimidation his rhetoric makes my friends feel every day.”

Legal experts suggest Thorne’s justification will be a difficult sell in court.

“The law is very clear on the difference between speech you find reprehensible and speech that constitutes a direct, immediate incitement to lawless action,” said Rebecca Shore, a Seattle-based civil litigation attorney not involved in the case. “While his feelings may be genuine, his actions—by his own admission—were premeditated to physically confront an individual based on the content of their speech. That is very rarely a defensible position.”

Turning Point USA has denounced Thorne’s explanation. In a statement, a spokesperson said, “This is a pathetic attempt to justify a violent assault. Charlie Kirk engages in the free exchange of ideas, which is the bedrock of any university. This individual engaged in the suppression of ideas through brute force. There is no justification, and we are confident the legal system will treat this as the criminal act it is.”

The University of Washington has condemned the violence while reaffirming its commitment to free speech, a delicate balancing act that has become a hallmark of such incidents on college campuses nationwide.

For Marcus Thorne, the consequences are just beginning. He has been suspended from the university pending a disciplinary hearing and could face expulsion regardless of the court’s outcome.

“I know what I did. I know why I did it,” Thorne said, his defiance finally giving way to a note of weariness. “They’ll call me a criminal. They’ll call me a thug. But on that sidewalk, in that moment, I saw myself as a protector. History will judge which one of us—me or Charlie Kirk—was truly a danger to that campus.”