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 News, a spokesperson for Newsom’s office said in an interview that “violence is not a legitimate exercise of First Amendment rights.”
“While people have the right to protest, it must be done peacefully,” the spokesperson added.
The governor’s office emphasized that the majority of demonstrators were nonviolent, with six arrests among more than 900 attendees, and said law enforcement “successfully contained” the agitators.
The confrontation unfolded Monday night during a TPUSA event at Zellerbach Hall featuring actor Rob Schneider and author Frank Turek, a Christian mentor to the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
The event, which capped the group’s “This Is the Turning Point” tour, quickly descended into chaos as far-left protesters swarmed the venue.
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.”
