BOULDER, Colo. — A CU Boulder student who was hit on the back of the head with a hockey stick last month said the attack was politically motivated, according to an arrest affidavit in the case obtained by Denver7 Tuesday.
Nathaniel Ellis, the secretary of Turning Point USA’s CU Boulder branch, told police he was riding his bike home after leaving a meeting on Oct. 23 when a person on rollerblades came from behind and struck him across the back of the head with the hockey stick.
Turning Point USA (TPUSA) is a nonprofit that promotes conservative politics across high school and college campuses. Its founder, Charlie Kirk, was assassinated while speaking to college students in Utah back in September.
The affidavit shows Ellis told police he believed the suspect “uttered ‘f—k you, fascist’ while striking him with the hockey stick” and said he felt he was assaulted because of his affiliation with TPUSA. Ellis claimed the assault happened after the group Front Range Antifa had posted information online accusing him of ties with white nationalist organizations.
An analysis of the website by Denver7 appears to show a young man resembling Ellis participating in rallies organized by Patriot Front, a white nationalist and neo-fascist organization founded in 2017. It also shows a man resembling Ellis admitting he’s “straight up racist,” as he advocates for the “remigration” of Black Americans to Africa.
Ellis told police he took cell phone video of the suspect as he chased them down for about a quarter-of-a-mile after the attack. He said the suspect was wearing all black and had a black balaclava over his head at the time of the alleged assault.
Further investigative by police would reveal the suspect was hiding under a tree before the attack while wearing a gray bucket hat and a blue t-shirt over a long-sleeved black undershirt. A search of the area by police days later would lead them to the gray bucket hat, which was submitted as evidence in the case.
As the investigation continued, police were able to determine that the suspect — later identified as Taylor Rose — changed his clothes right before the attack.
An anonymous tip two days after the alleged assault would lead police to the suspect, the affidavit shows. The tipster, who identified Rose as the suspect from photos released by police following the attack, said that they knew Rose from rollerblading together and considered him a friend.
Police said the caller "described Taylor as politically active and nonviolent,” according to the affidavit.
Boulder police was able to obtain a search warrant of Rose’s home about a week after the attack, and during an interview with the suspect’s wife, police gathered enough probable cause to arrest him.
Rose was then taken into custody on a second-degree assault charge and is currently housed at the Boulder County Jail.
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