[2] In 2017 Gailey participated in a protest of Turning Point USA, a national organization that maintains a “professor watch list.” A recruiter for the organization set up a table on the campus of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Gailey held a sign that said “Turning Point: Please put me on your watch list.” Another protester, graduate student Courtney Lawton, eventually lost her job for her involvement in the protest, which led to the University being placed on the American Association of University Professors’ censure list for violating Lawton’s academic freedom and due process.
[3] Governor Pete Ricketts responded to the protest by taking the unprecedented step of rescinding Gailey’s and Lawton’s Nebraska Admiral awards, which received criticism as being politically vindictive.
The protest and response from politicians received considerable media attention, including an episode of This American Life called “My Effing First Amendment” that was broadcast on May 4, 2018.
[4] As the founder and president of Nebraskans Against Gun Violence, Gailey threatened a boycott of First National Bank of Omaha unless the bank ceased its special credit card program with the National Rifle Association.
[6][7] In 2018 Gailey and Catherine Koebel organized a protest Alexandria, Virginia, that targeted Chris W. Cox, who was then the chief lobbyist of the National Rifle Association.