Governor Newsom Remains Silent on TPUSA Disruptions and Violent Arrests in Berkeley

Two days after agitators violently disrupted a TPUSA event in Berkeley, California, the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom, has yet to make a public comment on the matter.

The incident occurred Monday evening on the UC Berkeley campus during a Turning Point event featuring actor Rob Schneider and author Frank Turek, a Christian mentor to the organization’s late founder Charlie Kirk. Left-wing agitators invaded Zellerbach Hall, where the event, which was the final stop on the “This is the Turning Point” tour, was being held.

Four university students were arrested, according to The Californian dailywho omitted the names of the suspects in his report. They were women aged 20 to 22. Each would have been accused of criminal vandalism.

The UC Berkeley Police Department confirmed two other men were arrested during the night’s activities.

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California Governor Gavin Newsom attends a bill signing event related to redrawing the state’s congressional maps, August 21, 2025. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Christopher Joseph Benton, 48, who is not affiliated with the school, was arrested for trespassing, resisting or obstructing an officer and unlawful presence on campus, all misdemeanors.

Jay Eduardo Maytorena, 22, listed as a current or former student, was arrested for trespassing and resisting or obstructing an officer.

Several skirmishes at the event went viral, including a man filmed beating a Turning Point USA supporter who was arrested and charged with violent crimes.

Police said upon further investigation, the second man involved in the fight was attempting to steal the victim’s necklace.

“After speaking with the parties involved and corroborating the information through open source media footage, officers determined that one of the men, Jihad Dphrepaulezz (a 25-year-old Oakland man), stole the chain from the other man’s neck,” police said. “The other man was trying to get his chain back from Dphrepaulezz.”

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Newsom, who is in Brazil to attend the COP 30 climate conference, has not issued a message about the disruption of the event, which conservatives have called an attack on free speech.

Fox News Digital reached out to Newsom’s office for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Newsom sat down for an interview with Kirk before the conservative commentator was murdered, and the two briefly touched on freedom of speech when discussing TikTok. Newsom raised concerns about teachers’ “control of speech” in classrooms.

“I am grateful for this level of attention to what happened to our students last night at UC Berkeley,” said Andrew Kolvet of Turning Point USA. posted 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 Justice Department said it was investigating the chaos on campus.

“Aggression by the crowd and intimidation by thugs against participants exercising their First Amendment Rights are unacceptable,” wrote Deputy Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon in a message announcing the investigation into X.

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A protester is arrested by police before a “This Is the Turning Point” campus tour at the University of California, Berkeley, Monday, November 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Noé Berger)

The DOJ required the school to maintain all records related to campus security and preparation for the Turning Point event.

In a lengthy statement provided to Fox News Digital, UC Berkeley strongly condemned any violence and threats that could cripple free speech. He also said he would cooperate with the federal investigation.

“The University is conducting a thorough investigation and intends to fully cooperate and assist any federal investigation and the FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force in identifying the outside agitators responsible for the attempted disruption of last night’s TPUSA event,” the statement said. “UC Berkeley will take all appropriate measures to safeguard the right of every member of our community to speak and assemble freely.”

Peter D’Abrosca and Stephen Sorace of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.