After reported assault of CU Boulder Turning Point member, police are still investigating

A CU Boulder sophomore reported to the Boulder Police Department that he was assaulted from behind with a hockey stick while riding his bike near campus on Oct. 23. Police would not identify the victim, but the student has reportedly identified himself as Nathaniel Ellis to the CU Independent and Daily Camera. Ellis did not respond to Boulder Reporting Lab’s requests for comment sent via his social media on Oct. 24.

Ellis is the secretary of the university’s Turning Point USA chapter, according to CU Boulder Turning Point USA’s public Facebook account. Turning Point USA is a right-wing group founded by Charlie Kirk, who was murdered on Sept. 10. Police said the incident occurred around 7 p.m. near the intersection of 27th Way and Baseline Road. According to a city press release on Oct. 24, “it appears as if the suspect may have followed the victim from the University of Colorado Boulder campus onto Baseline Road just prior to the assault taking place.” Police said the alleged victim was not seriously injured and did not seek medical treatment.

The reported assault came three days after a blog post about Ellis was published by the group Front Range Anti-Fascists. The post accused Ellis of being a member of the white supremacist organizations Patriot Front and Active Club. Boulder Reporting Lab has not confirmed that Ellis is a member of either group.

On Oct. 21, Boulder Reporting Lab received an email from Front Range Anti-Fascists sharing similar claims about Ellis, including that he was responsible for more than 100 incidents of Patriot Front vandalism in Boulder. It also included a link to the blog post, which urged people to distribute flyers on campus and send in information about where Ellis “lives or works.” The flyer included his photo and alleged affiliations along with claims he was “responsible for white supremacist, anti-semitic, and anti-LGBTQ vandalism on campus,” allegations that Boulder Reporting Lab has not confirmed.

The flyer was also posted on social media, including to the Boulder Students for a Democratic Society’s Instagram page, where it was shared more than 300 times.

Ellis has been tagged in public photos on social media with symbols and individuals associated with extremist groups. In one image on Instagram, he wears a shirt featuring the Wolfsangel symbol, a Nazi-associated insignia used by white supremacist groups including Aryan Nations. Other images included in the blog show him standing beside a person wearing a Western Hammerskins tank top and what appears to be Ellis among a group waving Patriot Front flags. Boulder Reporting Lab has not confirmed the context of when or where these images were taken. They do not currently appear on Ellis’ public social media accounts.

The city said on Oct. 24 that police are focused on speaking with witnesses and on identifying and locating the alleged suspect “so that we can better understand what occurred and why.” Daytime photos released by the city show a person rollerblading in a teal shirt and bucket hat while carrying a hockey stick. Police previously released nighttime images, allegedly taken before the reported assault, that also show a person rollerblading and carrying a hockey stick, described as a white male of “medium-tall height and slender build,” wearing all-black clothing and a black ski mask.

Whether the online posts and flyer played a role in the reported assault remains under investigation, and police declined to comment further “at this time,” according to the city.