Brawl breaks out as protesters demonstrate near Turning Point USA event at UC Berkeley
It has been exactly two months since Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was assassinated
A brawl broke out Monday as protesters demonstrated near a Turning Point USA event at the University of California, Berkeley.
Protesters gathered on Bancroft Way ahead of the conservative group’s event, featuring comedian Rob Schneider and Christian author Frank Turek. Exactly two months ago, Turning Point’s founder, Charlie Kirk, was assassinated at a similar event on a Utah college campus.
Demonstrators wore keffiyehs — an Arab headdress that has been worn among pro-Palestinian demonstrators amid the Israel-Hamas war — and chanted, “No Trump, No KKK, no fascist USA,” according to the non-profit news site Berkeleyside.
The demonstration took a violent turn when a man selling Kirk memorial “Freedom” t-shirts clashed with protesters, Berkeleyside reported.
A video captured by Fox News Digital showed two men in a physical altercation as police broke it up.
Dan Mogulof, assistant vice chancellor for communications and public affairs at UC Berkeley, told The Independent, “Two individuals were arrested for fighting outside campus. They were arrested for battery by the City of Berkeley Police department.”
The police department confirmed that it arrested two people for fighting, telling The Independent, “I don't know the specifics that led up to the incident at the moment.”
The Independent has reached out to UC Berkeley Police for comment.
Mikey McCoy, who was the chief of staff to Kirk, accused the protesters of being Antifa, which is an anti-fascism movement with no official leaders.
“Antifa is breaking through police barricades, and threatening our event attendees!” McCoy wrote on X.
Schneider wrote shortly before the event: “Thank YOU, Antifa for welcoming us tonight at UC Berkeley. We Look forward to our thoughtful, teargas free discussion and debate.”
Turek told Fox News Digital last week, "I wanted to go to UC Berkeley because it is so progressive and liberal in their views, and I wanted to provide evidence that Christianity was indeed true."
Mogulof said in Berkeleyside’s reporting that the university “always works to support the rights and ability of all speakers to participate in events hosted by student organizations without regard for their beliefs and perspectives.”
No bags were allowed at the event, and attendees needed to bring a photo ID that matched the name on their ticket. Signs and banners were also banned from the event.
Kirk was fatally shot on September 10 while speaking to a crowd at Utah Valley University. Tyler Robinson, 22, has been charged over the killing. Utah Governor Spencer Cox said Robinson had a “leftist ideology.”
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