DOJ to investigate Turning Point USA protests at UC Berkeley

BERKELEY, Calif. - The US Department of Justice announced the agency would investigate the protests ahead of the Turning Point USA event at UC Berkeley, where at least three arrests were made and fights broke out.

DOJ to investigate

In a Tuesday morning post on social media, Harmeet Dhillon, a San Francisco attorney who is now the U.S. assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, said that she sees "several issues of serious concern regarding campus and local security and Antifa's ability to operate with impunity in CA."

She said the scene on Monday night at the Cal campus, which featured conservative activists, comedian Rob Schneider and author Frank Turek, was reminiscent of Berkeley in 2017. 

It appeared as though Dhillon was referencing a lawsuit and settlement her firm reached when her clients, the Berkeley College Republicans, alleged that UC Berkeley placed prohibitive restrictions on when and where events featuring conservative speakers Ann Coulter and David Horowitz could be held. 

At the time, Cal maintained that the restrictions were set in place due to real security concerns following violent protests that forced the cancellation of Milo Yiannopoulos’ speech earlier that year. Cal insisted the rules did not prevent the groups from holding their events.

The case was settled in 2018, with an agreement that UC Berkeley would stop charging security fees to students for speaking groups. 

UC Berkeley Assistant Vice Chancellor Dan Mogulof told KTVU that the university "will, as always, fully cooperate with any federal investigation."

He added that there were more than 1,000 people who attended the event that ended without disruption, and he cited two reported incidents of violence, though he added, it is not clear that one of them had anything to do with the event.

One victim was allegedly robbed of a necklace, according to Berkeley police, and a 45-year-old man not affiliated with the campus was hit in the head with a glass bottle and taken to Highland Hospital, Mogulof said. 

Protests organized by non university groups

Before the event, Mogulof said the protest ahead of the Turning Point USA event was organized by groups that had no affiliation with the university. 

He added that the university was treating the Turning Point USA event like any other major campus event while upholding First Amendment rights.

Political experts say that makes it hard for university officials to police. 

"If they are outsiders, not members of the university community, the university really has no opportunity to engage in further regulation or discipline of the groups," said David Levine, a professor at UC Law San Francisco.

Event peaceful inside 

The event at UC Berkeley came exactly two months after Turning Point USA founder and president Charlie Kirk was assassinated while speaking at Utah Valley University. It was the organization's final event of the year. 

Ahead of the actual event, fights broke out on campus. 

Three people were arrested, though police had originally said four. 

UC Berkeley police arrested a 48-year-old man who had no affiliation to the school, and a 22-year-old student on suspicion of misdemeanor trespassing and resisting arrest. 

Berkeley police said they arrested Jihad Dphrepaulezz, 25, of Oakland on suspicion of robbery and battery, after allegedly stealing another man's necklace, and ended up letting his victim go, as police said he was trying to get the chain back.  

Aerial footage captured one violent confrontation in which a person dressed in dark clothing pummeled someone wearing a red T-shirt on the sidewalk outside the event. Dozens of people remained in line as tensions flared, creating a rowdy scene.

"We want to make clear that we’re not going to be intimidated and this is not the campus to do this on," said Hoku Jeffrey of By Any Means Necessary Coalition.

Jeffrey added, "Charlie Kirk was not about promoting free speech and open debate. He was about trying to bully and intimidate people into silence and submission."

But others who support Turning Point USA came from all over the Bay Area and beyond to show their support.

Mary Pelican said she was there to honor Kirk and his legacy.

"We’re here to honor Charlie, and we want to spread the word for the young people," Pelican said.

A man named Ben drove from Sacramento to Berkeley to attend. 

"I came down because I’m a big fan of Charlie Kirk," Ben said. "He was an inspiration to my generation, and I really want to see TPUSA continue in the direction he wanted it to go."

A spokesperson for the event said things inside the hall went off without a hitch, were peaceful and that there were no incidents or disruptions inside during the several-hour event. 

UC BerkeleyNews