OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
11:50 AM – Tuesday, November 11, 2025
A sold-out Turning Point USA event at the University of California, Berkeley, erupted into chaos as hundreds of leftist protesters gathered outside the venue, throwing punches and clashing with police and attendees in a scene that left several people bloodied and at least four arrested.
According to the outlet The Berkeley Scanner, “four remained in custody at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin with bail ranging from $10,000 to $20,000, according to booking records.” However, other local outlets in the area have also reported that around seven people were arrested.
The Monday night event — part of a campus tour dedicated to the late TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated in September — featured speakers like actor Rob Schneider and Christian author Frank Turek.
It was hosted by the conservative student group’s UC Berkeley chapter and drew a packed crowd inside Wheeler Auditorium.
Masked leftist protesters holding Antifa flags begun assembling hours before the event, yelling and waving signs denouncing fascism and right-wing politics. Many could also be seen wearing “keffiyehs” — a scarf that has become a symbol of anti-Israel sentiment and Palestinian solidarity.
As the evening progressed, an onslaught of violent confrontations broke out between protesters, campus police, and conservative attendees attempting to enter the venue. Videos shared on social media showed people throwing punches and those in shouting matches, in addition to one man wearing a red “FREEDOM” T-shirt who was photographed with blood streaming down his face after an altercation.
UC Berkeley officials maintained that they had worked with law enforcement to secure the event, while adding that their disapproving students still had a “right to protest peacefully” — despite the violence that ensued.
“We saw all of this at Berkeley back in 2017. @UCBerkeley was sued, and settled the case. The @CivilRights will investigate what happened here, and I see several issues of serious concern regarding campus and local security and Antifa’s ability to operate with impunity in CA,” stated Harmeet Dhillon, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the Department of Justice.
Security around the campus was heavy, with controlled entry points, building closures, and visible police presence both inside and outside the auditorium. Additionally, despite the unrest, the event itself proceeded without major interruption inside the hall.
The Berkeley stop was the final leg of TPUSA’s “Campus Freedom Tour,” which has drawn both support and controversy nationwide. The organization, founded by Kirk in 2012, has long prided itself as a conservative voice for free speech on college campuses.
Images of the chaotic scene quickly spread online, prompting conservative commentators on social media to condemn the violence as “left-wing intimidation” — though other student activists defended the protests as legitimate opposition to what they view as “extremist rhetoric.”
Regarding this “extremist rhetoric,” in their own words, leftists and liberals have argued that TPUSA pushes a White-washed vision of America as a Christian nation where non-Christians threaten liberty. TPUSA has also been criticized for rejecting feminism as a societal ill, promoting instead a more conservative worldview where a woman’s most important roles are both homemaking and reproduction while a man’s roles are to provide for the family financially while protecting his wife and children. Additionally, many leftists have condemned Kirk’s comments on the Civil Rights Act, and the progressive Southern Poverty Law Center has referred to his remarks as sexist “male supremacy,” claiming it “subordinates women to maintain patriarchal control.”
As of Tuesday morning, officials were still assessing property damage and injuries, with no serious hospitalizations were reported.
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