The U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division has launched an investigation into the University of California, Berkeley, after the school failed to protect conservative students during a Turning Point USA (TPUSA) event.
Videos from the event show Antifa-linked protesters surrounding attendees and engaging in threatening behaviors.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon sent a letter to UC President James B. Milliken and the UC Board of Regents, informing them that the DOJ is investigating the university’s handling of the situation.
“We are also determining whether recent events provide a basis for additional investigation of violations of federal rights, including, without limitation, violations of the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution,” Dhillon wrote.
Ahead of the letter, she stated that the nation does not allow “citizens to be attacked by violent thugs and shrug and turn our backs. Been there, done that, not on our watch.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi similarly wrote that “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,” she shared to X on November 11. “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.”
