The Department of Justice launched a “full investigation” into the leftist demonstrations that took place outside of a Turning Point USA event at the University of California, Berkeley, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Tuesday.
Bondi said that Antifa was behind “violent riots” at UC Berkeley on Monday after leftist agitators showed up at the venue hours before the TPUSA event began on campus, harassing conservative attendees as they lined up for the event. The investigation is being led by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force, which focuses on international and domestic terrorism.
“Antifa is an existential threat to our nation. The violent riots at UC Berkeley last night are under full investigation by the FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force. We will continue to spare no expense unmasking all who commit and orchestrate acts of political violence,” Bondi wrote in a post on X. “Under President Trump’s leadership, and pursuant to his Executive Order designating Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization, the Department of Justice and our law-enforcement partners are dismantling violent networks that seek to intimidate Americans and suppress their free expression and First Amendment rights.”
Two people were arrested after a fistfight broke out between one of the agitators and a man wearing a red Turning Point USA t-shirt. One person was charged with battery, but it’s unclear if the person who was charged was one of the two men who were seen fighting.
At least two people detained after violence breaks out at a #TurningPointUSA event at #ucberkeley Our crews say tensions are growing as the number of protesters grow #ktvu pic.twitter.com/r8YuYvcqgr
— Claudine Wong (@ClaudineKTVU) November 11, 2025
UC Berkeley currently looks like a war zone.
An ANTIFA member just lit off a flare resulting in TPUSA event attendees being rushed inside.
A car then comes and starts backfiring visibly scaring multiple attendees who feared they were hearing gunshots. @TPUSA | @Savsays pic.twitter.com/u3mG8rJDSx
— FRONTLINES TPUSA (@FrontlinesTPUSA) November 11, 2025
Two more people were arrested for attempting to get past a barrier police had set up to separate protesters from attendees. Some of the agitators lit flares and shouted at the conservative attendees as they waited to enter the building, and when they left after the TPUSA event ended.
The event, which was the last stop on the “This is the Turning Point” tour, went on as planned, capping off a tour that was started by TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk on September 10 at Utah Valley University, when he was assassinated while speaking to college students.
The DOJ’s Civil Rights division is also probing the leftist demonstrations at UC Berkeley, according to Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon.
“We saw all of this at Berkeley back in 2017. @UCBerkeley was sued, and settled the case. The @CivilRights will investigate what happened here, and I see several issues of serious concern regarding campus and local security and Antifa’s ability to operate with impunity in CA,” Dhillon wrote on X.
UC Berkeley, which has long been one of the most liberal universities in the United States, was at the center of violent demonstrations when leftist groups protested right-wing commentator Milo Yiannopoulos’ planned speech in 2017. Dhillon brought some of the legal challenges against the university that same year over the free speech case.
“In America, we do not allow citizens to be attacked by violent thugs and shrug and turn our backs,” Dhillon added. “Been there, done that, not on our watch.”
President Donald Trump designated Antifa as a domestic terrorist organization in September, calling it “a militarist, anarchist enterprise that explicitly calls for the overthrow of the United States Government, law enforcement authorities, and our system of law.”