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Midwest university rocked over video of blonde student saying 'Go back to your own country!' outside Turning Point USA event

Read the original at Daily Mail ↗
Cite

Force, E. (2026, October 19). Midwest university rocked over video of blonde student saying 'Go back to your own country!' outside Turning Point USA event. Daily Mail. https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16220501/saint-thomas-minnesota-turning-point-riley-gaines-video.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

Daily Mail · collected 2026-10-19 · by Eliot Force

Quick Summary

A University of Saint Thomas student was recorded outside a Turning Point USA event on the University of Minnesota campus shouting a racial slur at a protester. The incident, captured and posted online by Darnell Edwards, garnered over 10 million views within four days. In response, University of Saint Thomas released a statement condemning the use of hateful language and pledged to address the matter according to their student code of conduct.
Written by AI on 2026-10-19, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

A University of Saint Thomas nursing student was filmed shouting "Go back to your own country, b****!" at Derek Torstenson, a leftwing activist with a Russian accent, outside a Turning Point USA event on the University of Minnesota campus in October 2026. Two male students smiled and laughed after her statement before she realized she was being recorded; she then asked why she was being filmed. The video went viral, leading to significant online backlash against the student. In response, she issued an apology for her actions and withdrew from University of Saint Thomas. Torstenson had previously been involved in expletive-filled confrontations at protests in the Twin Cities area.

Written for “Student Racist Outburst At College Event” on 2026-11-04, grounded in this article and the 2 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Student Racist Outburst At College Event
Education · 3 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 19% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Daily Mail
Hedges 2 of 21 claims Outlet record 69/100
“The articles describe different institutions (University of Minnesota vs. University of St. Thomas) and timelines (video went viral on Wednesday, student withdraws later), indicating distinct occurrences.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
26
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
19%
5 of 26 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
69/100
Daily Mail's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
3
Education
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-19 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Daily Mail · 9207 article(s) · 22 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 22 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Eliot Force
62 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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🔮 Morgan asked Zacharia how she responded to Trump saying, 'Was this really for you?' before laying her off, but she refused to answer and said: 'I will keep private conversations between myself and the president confidential.'
🔮 The complaint specifically named Mayor Karen Bass and Councilmember Nithya Raman, who is seeking to unseat Bass and whose district covers the Hollywood sign and surrounding neighborhoods.
🔮 William Romberg, known to his friends and family as 'Stone,' died on Sunday afternoon in the waters near his home in Laguna Beach, a community on the Florida Panhandle coast. Romberg, 31, was fishing at an inlet when his cast line caught a seagull, according to an online fundraiser organized by his loved ones. Noticing the bird was in distress, the kindhearted man swam out to untangle it. But while he tried to rescue the seagull, the fishing hook and bird got caught on his hand.
🔮 A Cuban diplomat who got into a fiery clash with US diplomats at the United Nations will be expelled from the country.
🔮 A member of the aerial team could be heard saying that Helsel has run away from police before, and 'his MO is to hunker down, whether it be in the water, under a dock or at a stream on the edge and just wait 'till night.'
🔮 'And they both had her body, shaking her, and I couldn't do anything.'
Also by Eliot Force
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 62 articles by Eliot Force →

Topics

America Minnesota Turning Point USA University of Minnesota University of Saint Thomas

Subjects

University of Saint Thomas ORG · 4× Edwards PERSON · 2× Turning Point USA ORG · 2× America GPE · 1× Darnell Edwards PERSON · 1× Minnesota GPE · 1× Riley Gaines PERSON · 1× The University of Saint Thomas ORG · 1× University of Minnesota ORG · 1× the Daily Mail ORG · 1×

Narrative

A University of Saint Thomas student was caught on camera shouting 'Go back to your own country, b***' at a protester outside a Turning Point USA event Two male students appeared to smile and laugh at the statement before the female student noticed that another protester was taking a video After the student noticed she was being recorded, she made eye contact with the camera and asked: 'Why are you recording me?'
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-19
🔮 One of those protesters captured a video of a University of Saint Thomas student walking into the event, as another protester could be heard speaking through his megaphone.

Claims (26 extracted, 5 hedged)

A Minnesota university and one of its students are in hot water after a video of the student making a prejudiced statement went viral on social media. asserted
student → make → media
The video was taken on Wednesday outside a Turning Point USA event featuring Riley Gaines, a conservative activist and former collegiate swimmer who advocates against transgender women competing in women's sports. asserted
who → take → sports
The event took place on the University of Minnesota campus, but students from other colleges attended as well. asserted
students → take → colleges
Protesters against the event also stood outside to chastise attendees. asserted
Protesters → stand → attendees
One of those protesters captured a video of a University of Saint Thomas student walking into the event, as another protester could be heard speaking through his megaphone. uncertain
protester → capture → megaphone
the University of Saint Thomas student appeared to shout towards the man with the megaphone while two male students she was with smiled and laughed. asserted
she → appear → megaphone
'I know, you hate people!' asserted
you → know → people
the man could be heard replying. uncertain
man → hear → ?
Later in the video, the student saw that she was being recorded and asked the man behind the camera, 'Why are you recording me?' asserted
you → see → me
The man with the megaphone could then be heard saying, 'Look at these fat, white trash weirdos who hate America.' uncertain
who → hear → America
The video, which was posted on Thursday by a male model named Darnell Edwards, has gone viral, receiving 10 million views in four days and thousands of angry comments. asserted
which → post → comments
A University of Saint Thomas student was caught on camera shouting 'Go back to your own country, b***' at a protester outside a Turning Point USA event Two male students appeared to smile and laugh at the statement before the female student noticed that another protester was taking a video After the student noticed she was being recorded, she made eye contact with the camera and asked: 'Why are you recording me?' asserted
you → catch → me
Reposts of the video across social media have received millions more views and thousands more comments. asserted
Reposts → receive → views
Edwards identified the woman in the video as a University of Saint Thomas student and named her, but the Daily Mail could not independently verify her identity as it appears her social media profiles were taken down. The University of Saint Thomas released a statement confirming the student attended the school but did not name her, citing 'student privacy laws. uncertain
student → identify → laws
The school referred to the video as 'an off-campus incident involving one of our students' and said in part: 'The language heard in the video is inconsistent with the university’s values and convictions. ' asserted
language → refer → values
As a Catholic university, we have a responsibility to provide a welcoming environment for all and do not condone hateful language being used by anyone in our university community.' The university pledged to address the incident 'in accordance with the student code of conduct' and said it 'will continue providing support and working to build a university community that respects the dignity of each person.' asserted
that → have → person
The statement appears to have been released after backlash from the campus community, as in a follow-up video to his first post, Edwards urged students to email the university about its student's conduct. asserted
Edwards → appear → conduct
He also said that he received messages from alumni who claimed they would stop donating because of the video. asserted
they → say → video
The video went viral on social media, garnering 10 million views, more than 380,000 likes and thousands of angry comments in just four days The outrage was palpable in the comments of the viral video as well. asserted
outrage → go → video
'The comfort she felt in yelling racist statements, while in clearly likeminded company EVAPORATED, instantaneously when she realized she’s on camera,' one user began. asserted
user → feel → camera
'Not in any way that she feels remorse. asserted
she → feel → way
But entirely in that she feels regret that she might now how [sic] the possibility of consequences for her hateful actions,' the comment concluded. uncertain
comment → feel → actions
'Can see the fear set in as she takes an extended breath and looks down at her phone, just beginning to process what has just happened and is still happening lol,' another comment said. asserted
comment → see → phone
'I was just on the phone with the dean… they acknowledged that it goes against their guidelines and are handling it,' a third commenter added. asserted
commenter → acknowledge → it
The University of Saint Thomas referred the Daily Mail to its public statement when reached for comment. asserted
University → refer → comment
If you or someone you know is a student at the university and has more information about the reaction to the video on campus, please reach out to eliot.force@dailymail.com with any tips. asserted
you → know → tips
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