Newsom Condemns Violence After TPUSA Chaos at UC Berkeley

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has broken his silence after violent agitators disrupted a Turning Point USA (TPUSA) event at UC Berkeley, condemning the unrest and calling for peaceful demonstrations. According to Fox…

Andrew PowellNov 12, 20253 min read

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According to the UC Berkeley Police Department, four female students aged 20 to 22 were arrested for felony vandalism. Two other men — Christopher Joseph Benton, 48, and Jay Eduardo Maytorena, 22 — were taken into custody for trespassing and resisting arrest.

Police also identified Jihad Dphrepaulezz, 25, of Oakland, as a suspect in a viral altercation outside the venue. Authorities said Dphrepaulezz stole a TPUSA supporter’s necklace, sparking a fight caught on camera.

“Officers determined that one of the men… had stolen the other man’s chain from around his neck,” police said in a statement.

Newsom, currently in Brazil for the COP 30 climate conference, has not publicly addressed the attack, which conservatives have labeled an assault on free speech.

“Grateful this level of attention being paid to what happened to our students last night at UC Berkeley,” TPUSA spokesperson Andrew Kolvet wrote on X. “No one attending a peaceful event should be subjected to the type of harassment and attacks we saw last night. The Antifa thugs who did this MUST be stopped.”

The Department of Justice has since announced a federal investigation into the incident. “Mob assault and thuggish intimidation of attendees exercising their First Amendment rights are unacceptable,” wrote Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon on X.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, UC Berkeley condemned the Violence and said it is cooperating with federal authorities, including the FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force.

“The University is conducting a full investigation… to identify the outside agitators responsible for attempting to disrupt last night’s TPUSA event,” the statement said. “UC Berkeley will take all appropriate steps to safeguard the right of every member of our community to speak and assemble freely.”