The Turning Point tour ends with brawls and arrests at UC Berkeley

from Ella Carter-Claushy and Chris OlsonCalMatters

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A few hundred feet apart, but still politically far apart, angry UC Berkeley students protested the final stop of the conservative organization Turning Point USA’s “American Homecoming Tour” on Monday night at what is known as the nation’s most liberal campus.

The event drew many older attendees, who at various times danced to “YMCA,” laughed and observed a moment of silence for the late TPUSA leader Charlie Kirk.

Outside the event, students, most of them much younger than those inside, clashed with police in riot gear, with physical altercations leading to arrests. One man was taken to hospital after being hit in the head.

On Tuesday morning, Assistant US Attorney Harmit Dillon announced that the US Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division would I’m investigating the event. So did Attorney General Pam Bondi tweeted that the FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force would launch a full investigation into what it called the “violent riots at UC Berkeley.”

In a statement, UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogloff said the university is conducting a “full investigation” and “intends to cooperate fully” with the FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force to identify “the outside agitators responsible for attempting to disrupt last night’s TPUSA event.”

During the event, a large police presence kept the protesters several hundred feet away and brandished batons and throwing weapons. The University of California Police Department, private security, and law enforcement from Alameda County and San Francisco were stationed on Lower Sproul, a plaza in front of Zellerbach. The event was strictly monitored, with bags, food, drinks, signs and flags prohibited.

Enforcement had already begun early in the morning, with the UC Police Department arresting four students at midnight on felony vandalism charges for attempting to attach a giant cardboard bug to Sather Gate at the campus entrance as a protest against the TPUSA event, as reported by Everyday Californian.

The event happened exactly two months to the day after the murder of charlie kirkthe founder of TPUSA, who was gunned down on a Utah university campus while debating his political views with students.

Two student reporters for CalMatters attended the event. Here’s what they saw outside and inside.

Out, 4:30 p.m

Protests were just beginning in Sproul Plaza, a central area on campus, while Lower Sproul Plaza, the area in front of Zellerbach Hall, was completely barricaded by law enforcement. Surrounding campus buildings were locked down as early as 12:45 p.m., causing student group meetings to be canceled or moved to Zoom.

Unable to make it directly to Zellerbach Hall, the hundreds of protesters moved down Bancroft Avenue to the campus student union, where event attendees lined up to enter the barricaded area in front of Zellerbach. An argument broke out between two men, one of whom was selling T-shirts with the words “Freedom” on them. Their altercation and subsequent arrest closed the street for a short time.

Inside, 5:30 p.m

As part of the event, attendees, most of whom were not students, registered in red MAGA hats and “Freedom” shirts. As they took their seats, they danced to “Born in the USA,” “YMCA” and “Here Comes the Sun.”

Out, 5:30 p.m

Panic briefly ran through the crowd when a car on Bancroft Way began firing back, mimicking the sound of gunshots, causing some attendees to duck and run as smoke filled the air. No one was injured, and most of the protesters continued to chant and pound on barricades in front of nearly 20 baton-wielding UCPD officers.

Inside, 6:30 p.m

Jobob Taelifi, a comedian and friend of Kirk’s, opened the event, followed by John Paul Leon, president of UC Berkeley’s Turning Point USA chapter, who announced the entrance of Christian apologist and Kirk’s mentor Frank Turek.

“When the bullet went up in the air, an assassin took the life of a brave man,” Leon told the crowd. “The sad truth is that the left is not your friend. They will mock and dehumanize you just so they can laugh at your corpse. . . . To all those protesters outside, I have one thing to say: it is clear to us which side wins when your country becomes the agitator of violence.”

Teleifi, Leon and Turek focused much of their remarks on criticism of the protests outside. Turek called Kirk a “martyr” and recounted his experience watching Kirk die.

“I’ll never forget Charlie’s lifeless eyes looking back right past me,” Turek said.

Comedian Rob Schneider, who spoke after Turek, thanked antifa for their “welcome.” Schneider spoke about his experience at Saturday Night Live’s 50th anniversary event, did an impression of God and said, “God said Trump was my man.”

“There is an attack on Western civilization, and the United States is the last bastion of hope,” Schneider said. “As Charlie Kirk said, if you don’t assimilate, it’s an invasion, and that’s what we’re experiencing.”

Out, 6:30 p.m

Two people who quarreled started to fight. One was detained by the police.

The protest mostly gathered around one barricaded entrance to the event. Some were there in response to calls made by UC Berkeley student activist groups such as Student Liberation Organizations, Young Democratic Socialists of America and Jewish Voice for Peace. In addition to the large number of students, the protesters also included people who did not attend UC Berkeley – groups such as SF Bay Activists held a “dance party” protest.

Far from the epicenter of the shouting and chanting in front of the police, many stood back just to watch and observe.

One student protester, Asha Gennett, said she attended because she disagreed with Turning Point’s support for Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions, which she called “human rights abuses.”

“I think the conversation between conservatives and liberals or leftists is important,” Gennett said. “I don’t think the way TPUSA is trying to engage in this is productive or helpful. I think it’s inflammatory.”

Chants ranged from condemnation of TPUSA’s conservative ideals to calls for them to leave campus. Protesters chanted “Fascists out of Berkeley,” “Trump must go now,” and “Charlie Kirk.”

Protester Cort Freund, a graduate student at UC Berkeley who identifies as a Democrat and libertarian, said he disagrees with TPUSA on everything but free speech.

“My point is that TPUSA and other organizations that I strongly disagree with, as long as they’re not advocating direct harm to someone on campus, they should be here and have a right to be here,” he said.

“By shutting them out of our campus, which is supposed to be a center for intellectual debate, so many progressives just want to shut out the other side,” Freund said. “So they automatically lose a large percentage of people.”

According to Mogloff, a 45-year-old man attending the TPUSA event was hit in the head with a glass bottle and transported to a nearby hospital for a laceration to the head.

Inside, 8:10 p.m

A line of attendees lined the aisle waiting for their chance to ask a question as Schneider hosted a Q&A with Turek, author Andrew Doyle and philosopher Peter Boghossian to close out the event.

Jackie Jones, a student and co-president of the comedy club, asked Schneider if there were things that comedians shouldn’t joke about, to which Schneider replied that a comedian’s job is to “challenge” people and push boundaries. He also praised Louis CC, who admitted to sexual misconduct allegations in 2017, calling him a “genius.”

Out, 8:45 p.m

Protesters circled Lower Sproul to block the exits, confronting police behind barricades as attendees left the event. Surrounded by protesters, attendees gradually filed out, some shouting back and engaging in arguments. The protest ended shortly after 9:30 p.m. By the end of the protest, four people had been arrested, according to Mogloff.

“These people are non-negotiable,” student and event-goer Matthew Edgar told protesters outside. “They’re going to celebrate if I die. It’s pointless. I’m going to leave here and probably have almost no friends that come from Berkeley.”

Ella Carter-Clauschi and Krissa Olson are contributors to the College Journalism Network, a collaboration between CalMatters and student journalists from across California. CalMatters Higher Education Coverage is supported by a grant from the College Futures Foundation.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and is republished under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives license.