The U.S. Department of Justice has set its sights on the University of California, Berkeley, following a chaotic Monday night event spearheaded by Turning Point USA, which saw a violent altercation outside of Zellerbach Hall. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Civil Rights Division took to the Berkeley campus on Thursday to look into the protests, making it clear that "This is a top priority, this incident that occurred here, for the Department of Justice and for the Trump administration," as reported by ABC7 News.
During her visit, Dhillon met with various officials from the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, expressing grave concerns over potential Antifa-related incidents and the university's response. Discussions reportedly highlighted federal government-funded operations, which ABC7 News noted as a significant concern. The protest, which featured comedian Rob Schneider as a speaker, turned into a near five-hour ordeal, raising questions about the university's protocol during politically-charged events, according to a NBC Bay Area report; Dhillon herself has indicated that the group By Any Means Necessary, an organizer of the demonstration, might hold some responsibility for the outburst of violence that saw three people arrested, including a student who was cited and let go.
A spokesperson for By Any Means Necessary, Mark Airgood, defended the protests as peaceful and successful, contradicting the administration’s harsher viewpoint on the events that unfolded. "Trump has a history of calling anyone that comes out in defense of a fight against racism as antifa and attempting to throw the book at them," Airgood told NBC Bay Area, reflecting a sentiment of opposition to the administration’s handling of such protests. The DOJ is not only examining the protesters' actions but also the university's, with Dhillon mandating that UC Berkeley preserve all records relating to the preparation, execution, and the school's response to the Turning Point event.
With the event falling on the heels of the fatal shooting of TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk two months prior, security at the venue was tightened. Arrests around the event totaled four, as local reports indicated a tense atmosphere even before the night began, per Hoodline, which also details an instance of campus police detaining students for an alleged act of felony vandalism earlier that day.
