A violent, bloody brawl broke out outside the Turning Point USA finale event Monday night at the University of California, Berkeley, where protesters, clad in black masks and keffiyehs, swarmed the hall's entrance, chanting "No Trump, No KKK, No fascist USA" and screaming obscenities at attendees, calling them "fascists."
The chaos erupted on Bancroft Way ahead of the conservative group's event at Zellerbach Hall, headlined by comedian Rob Schneider and Christian author Frank Turek, and held exactly two months after Turning Point founder Charlie Kirk was assassinated while speaking at a Utah college campus, reports Berkeleyside.
Mikey McCoy, who had served as Kirk's chief of staff, accused the protesters of being antifa, an anti-fascist movement with no official leaders.
Later in the day, Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a statement on social media saying the riots were under full investigation by the FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force. "We will continue to spare no expense unmasking all who commit and orchestrate acts of political violence," she wrote on X. "Under President Trump’s leadership, and pursuant to his Executive Order designating Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization, the Department of Justice and our law-enforcement partners are dismantling violent networks that seek to intimidate Americans and suppress their free expression and First Amendment rights."
What started as a war of words erupted into violence when a masked protester tackled a man selling Kirk memorial "Freedom" shirts, sparking a flurry of punches as Berkeley police rushed in.
The fight exploded into a crush of bodies as onlookers screamed, "Get him!" and "Let him go!" while the vendor, red-faced and defiant, shouted, "I was gay until Charlie Kirk showed me the way!" before being detained.
Dozens of officers in helmets rushed the scene, forming a phalanx along Bancroft Way as private security struggled to control the crowd.
Two cops held pepper-ball launchers aimed squarely at protesters while others barked commands drowned out by the mob's chants of "Antisemites, go home" and "F**k your dead homie," a direct taunt at Kirk's supporters.
One man in a "Freedom" shirt screamed, "Spray them, tase them, lock them up!" as police tightened their line and pressed protesters back from the gates.
The brawl was only the start.
By dusk, roughly 300 demonstrators had flooded the streets around Zellerbach Hall, the air thick with pepper spray residue and rage as drums pounded and megaphones blared.
Aerial footage captured a person in dark clothing pummeling someone in a red shirt on the sidewalk, their scuffle illuminated by flashing red and blue lights.
Berkeley and campus police confirmed multiple arrests, including a Turning Point supporter and a protester from the fight caught on video.
Earlier that morning, UC Berkeley police had arrested four students for felony vandalism at Sather Gate after they allegedly hung a massive cardboard insect and posters mocking Kirk's death.
Flyers plastered around campus accused the conservative firebrand of racism, misogyny, and homophobia, citing his statements that the Civil Rights Act was a "huge mistake" and that birth control made "bitter young women."
UC Berkeley Assistant Vice Chancellor Dan Mogulof said the university had braced for the mayhem.
"The protest in question is being organized by a group that has no affiliation with the university," he said. "Our student organizations have every right to invite whoever they wish to events on campus, and our police will take whatever measures are deemed necessary to ensure a safe and successful event."
Even with police and barricades, the protest felt more like a siege.
Officers in riot gear flanked Eshleman Hall, holding zip ties at the ready as protesters danced, shouted, and shoved against the metal barriers.
Tensions spiked as night fell and antifa demonstrators began surrounding exits, blocking doors and taunting attendees trapped inside.
"F**k you, fascists!" they screamed as students in MAGA hats tried to leave, escorted by lines of officers who formed human shields.
Inside, the tone was starkly different.
The crowd of Turning Point supporters — many in red, white, and blue "Freedom" shirts — cheered as Schneider and Turek honored Kirk's legacy.
Turek said last week that he "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."
"He really wanted to empower young people, because this is your country, you are the future," Schneider said. "People say that all the time, but I mean it, and he meant it."
A Turning Point spokesperson said the event "went off without a hitch," even as pounding on the doors could be heard outside.
When the program ended around 8:45 p.m., the tension outside hit a fever pitch.
Protesters had sealed off all four exits, shouting at police and attendees alike, their faces lit by the red strobe of emergency lights.
Some attendees shouted back, others hurried out silently as officers cleared paths with riot shields.
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