Free Speech Under Fire: Inside the Protest at TPUSA’s Berkeley Finale
8 min read
On Nov. 10, 2025, two months after Charlie Kirk was assassinated during the opening leg of his “American Comeback Tour,” Turning Point USA held the final event of their tour at U.C. Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall. Outside, protesters gathered to voice their concerns during what many see as a pivotal flashpoint in America’s free-speech debate.
Hundreds of protestors were gathered outside Lower Sproul Plaza in anticipation of the TPUSA event at UC Berkeley.
While national narrative and federal investigations have pinned Berkeley into an ideological box, the stories from the ground have painted a more nuanced picture of Monday night.
On the morning of the event, four students were arrested on felony vandalism charges for hanging a cardboard bug on Sather Gate in a protest against TPUSA. By 5:00 p.m., a crowd of 250-300 gathered outside Lower Sproul to oppose the event featuring comedian Rob Schneider and author Frank Turek speaking to a crowd in red, white and blue—many donning a ‘Make America Great Again’ or ‘47’ hat in support of President Donald Trump.
The Sights and Sounds of Lower Sproul
At 5:30 p.m., tensions were high. Attendees lined up just outside Eshleman Hall as 200-300 officers formed barricades around Lower Sproul Plaza, occupying Martin Luther King Jr, Student Union, among other campus locations which were closed for the event.
From behind the barricades, protesters chanted, “No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA”, “F— you fascist”, and “F— Charlie Kirk.”
A Berkeley resident, who declined to give his name, said he “came with an open mind to see what people are protesting against” as he saw “some productive conversations”, but felt “the majority of people are very passionate without a lot of substance.”
Still, he added, people were “for the most part, willing to remain peaceful.”
Escalations and National Narrative
Online, however, national commentators quickly labeled the protest as a “riot.” Conservative journalist Nick Sortor wrote on X that “Antifa has turned Turning Point’s event at U.C. Berkeley in California into an absolute WARZONE.” https://x.com/nicksortor/status/1988065091947032843?s=20
Police arrested a 25-year-old Oakland man, Jihad Dphrepaulezz, after a scuffle with a 45-year-old TPUSA supporter who was seen bloodied after the altercation.
Video shows protesters lighting smoke bombs moments before a car backfired outside of the event, setting off a sharp, explosive sound comparable to gunfire. The noise sent both protesters and attendees fleeing.
https://x.com/C_3C_3/status/1988234154312450442?s=20
In a statement, the University of California Police Department revealed that some members of the crowd “threw glass containers” full of paint at the officers.
In another instance, a protester was apprehended after inching his way towards the officers as others attempted to tear down the barricades just in front of the entrance
https://x.com/Savsays/status/1988061010486538595?s=20
Following these events, the Department of Justice has initiated an investigation into these obstructions as U.C. Berkeley remains compliant, releasing a statement saying, “There is no place at U.C. Berkeley for attempts to use violence or intimidation to prevent lawful expression or chill free speech.”
In an email, U.C. Berkeley spokesperson, Dan Mogulof, emphasized how UC Berkeley aims to balance its commitment to free speech, ensuring student safety during politically charged events, writing, “By ensuring we have the rules and resources necessary to protect freedom of expression and, at the same time, ensure that exercising First Amendment rights doesn’t infringe on the rights of others.”
Tom Follett, who traveled to Berkeley for the event, says he was “very affected by Charlie Kirk’s death [as he saw] shocking viciousness from the protesters who were shouting horrible slander against Charlie, chanting death to America.” Follett said that it seemed “like a shocking display of satanic wickedness from that side,” adding, “it really hurt my heart to see it.”
Follett exclaimed, “We are calling for peace. We’re calling for love of each other. There’s zero calumny and zero slander being hurled from our side, and I see all of it originating from the other side.”
When asked if America can come together in a liminal space between radical left and right, engaging in respectful dialogue, Follett says, “I see a growing thrust for that common ground, for that dialogue, and that space has been carved out precisely by people like Charlie Kirk.”
Follett sees that “there is a very stark divide between us, and anyone with eyes can see that.”
The Other Lens
The protest, which saw hundreds of students and activists disrupting the TPUSA event, was organized by six student-led political action organizations: Koreans for Decolonization, Jewish Voice for Peace, U.C. Berkeley YDSA, GABRIELA Berkeley, Students for Socialism, and Students Organizing for Liberation.
In an Instagram statement celebrating the protest and rejecting right wing ‘Antifa framing,’ Students Organizing for Liberation at U.C. Berkeley wrote,
“During the action yesterday, community members were brutalized by the police while being smeared by the right wing media as "Antifa". Antifa is not an organized group that was present during the actions yesterday. But everyone that isn't a bigot is against fascism.”
A student protester, who declined to identify himself for personal reasons, revealed how he “lost a family member to an ICE abduction a few months ago.” He described his situation as “very devastating [and] terrifying” as he felt that “it’s been very dangerous as students to protest.”
For many protesters, the stakes weren’t abstract debate over speech but concrete fears of state violence and deportation.
Questioned how he perceived the discourse that night, he acknowledged how both sides “think they’re so right, and they’re going to die on that hill. That’s [one of] the biggest problems.”
Another student protester, who declined to give her name for precautionary measures, was dressed in a keffiyeh and passionately described her reasons for attending the protest.
“I’m assuming you’re interviewing me because I look pregnant,” the student-protestor said. “I want to fight for a better world for not just me, but my child. My parents are immigrants. I want them to not live in fear. . . I know political refugees who are scared. I’m here to fight for a better USA.”
As the Event Concluded
Just moments before the event ended around 8:45 p.m., protesters were lining the barricade next to the Student Learning Center, chanting at dozens of cops in riot gear, “UCPD, KKK, IOF, they’re all the same.”
As attendees left Zellerbach Hall, familiar chants were hurled in their direction as they took the steps to Upper Sproul.
Some attendees opted for a closer exit, just under the Cesar Chavez Student Center as protesters were seen booing them, screaming, “SHAME!”, however, providing ample space for the attendees to leave.
As the rest of the attendees left Zellerbach, marching up the stairs of Upper Sproul, protesters continued their chanting and screaming without physically escalating.
Michael, a U.C. Berkeley alumnus who was among those on Upper Sproul, and declined to give his last name for personal reasons, said the event was about “free speech…what this campus was built upon in 1960,” during the Free Speech Movement.
Michael responded to the protesters outside the venue, saying “I’m a little bit let down. I was maybe hoping there would be more. I think the event held it together, okay, I don’t see any violence and I saw a lot of safety. I think the event happened, and everyone’s within their bounds.”
“I would’ve hoped for more dialogue”, Michael said, of the discourse between protesters and attendees. “This is where that started. This is where we need to have the dialogue.”
When the protesters start chanting “F— you fascists,” Michael says, “I’m feeling love,” as he dances in response to “meet them where they’re at.”
Michael finished by adding how “love is the way forward and the way through this.”
While discourse online has surfaced the darkest moments from that night, those who stood on various points of the political spectrum were able to envision a middle-ground.
However, when media fans rhetorical flames, as did right-wing political commentator, Jobob Teaeleifi in his response to a Daily Californian article covering the event, this common-ground disappears.
In a tongue-in cheek video on Instagram, Taeleifi says, “My jokes are also misogynistic, transphobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic, ableist, ageist, elitist, climate denying, and bigoted.”
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DQ-VrDkkiGq/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
Free speech remained the throughline in Berkeley, even as TPUSA attendees and protesters shared a tense coexistence that national coverage quickly framed through opposing ideological lenses.