A conservative group is outraged after anti-police protesters were caught on video ransacking its outdoor event at a California university while police observed and made no arrests.
Black-clothed agitators tore down a tent display for a Turning Point USA talk featuring former police officer Brandon Tatum at the University of California, Davis, according to videos Turning Point posted on X. The university said “no one has been arrested” in a Thursday statement, despite at least one assault being reported.
“They stole the canopy, ripped down banners, smashed foam boards, and even tried to steal the iPad and laptop of a [TPUSA] field rep,” Turning Point USA said in a post.
More than a dozen protesters were seen on video advancing toward the display and stealing equipment while officers stood back. Tatum approached the mob and told them to “get back” before pushing a protester wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh. Another man who appeared to be an officer then tried to pull Tatum back as cops allowed protesters to walk away with the stolen equipment.
The leftists carried signs saying “ACAB” — a slogan meaning “all cops are bastards” — as well as an image of a pig and the words “bash back.”
“Only after the damage was done did law enforcement finally form a perimeter,” Turning Point USA said. “This is the reality of free speech on campus.”
UC Davis’s media team did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
The university’s Thursday statement said that “a demonstrator struck one observer who approached the group with a camera phone,” while “other demonstrators … engaged in shoving with those staffing the tent and others nearby.” Protesters “returned a few minutes later” to continue trying to tear down the display, the school said.
The event was titled “Prove Me Wrong: It’s All A Lie” and offered students the chance to “ask a former cop … about anything on your mind,” an Instagram post shows.
UC Davis said Tatum’s talk “took place on schedule and was completed without further incident” after the disruptions. Turning Point USA called that “a wild misrepresentation” in comments to the DCNF.
“The entire event set-up was destroyed, but Mr. Tatum and our students and staff were adamant that the right decision was to regroup once the agitators and ‘mostly peaceful protesters’ left, and they managed to hold an event with a much simpler, stripped down set-up,” spokesperson Andrew Kolvet said.
A photo the group shared with the DCNF showed Tatum speaking, surrounded by police officers and three small tables while one man filmed.
“The school knows that what happened was egregious and wrong, so they want to act like all is well that ends well,” Kolvet said. “This is not what happened here.”
“Our team pushed forward in the face of unacceptable and criminal behavior from a group of vigilantes,” Kolvet told the DCNF. “Their courage doesn’t negate the failures of UC Davis leadership for coddling criminals.”
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