BERKELEY, California – The Justice Department will investigate after four people were arrested at a protest outside Turning Point USA’s final college tour stop of the year at the University of California, Berkeley, where tempers flared over assassinated activist Charlie Kirk and the political group he left behind.

When the Turning Point tour concluded on the evening of Nov. 10 on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, it laid bare divisions in the nation that only grew deeper after Kirk was killed.

Protests were staged across several locations outside the Turning Point event. Hundreds of people gathered outside Zellerbach Hall, some with their faces covered. They held signs denouncing Turning Point, fascism, Nazis, antisemitism and President Donald Trump.

Tensions were high when Turning Point arrived at the University of California, Berkeley. The school, known as the birthplace of the Free Speech Movement of the 1960s, made national news for how it handled protests over a right-wing campus speaker in 2017.

Kirk was fatally shot on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, Sept. 10, during the first stop on Turning Point’s college campus tour. He was answering a question about shootings committed by transgender people when he was shot. Tyler Robinson, 22, has been charged in connection with his murder.

Demonstrators wrote messages in chalk supporting transgender people outside the Berkeley auditorium.

Protesters converge outside of UC Berkeley stop

Actor Rob Schneider and Frank Turek, Kirk’s mentor, were featured speakers at the event. Schneider called the protesters “goons.”

“These are bad faith actors. These people don't want to discuss anything. They want to tear down Western civilization because they have a grievance,” Schneider said.

Protesters threw glass bottles and set off flares outside the venue, social media videos show. In one clip circulated online, a man’s face was bloodied during a fight. He was wearing a pro-Turning Point shirt and had fought with a man in dark green clothing. It was unclear who initiated the scuffle.

Two men were arrested by the city of Berkeley's police for their alleged involvement, Officer Byron White said. Police released one of the men after determining his necklace appeared to have been stolen by 25-year-old Oakland man Jihad Dphrepaulezz. Police then arrested Dphrepaulezz on robbery and battery charges.

UC Berkeley campus police arrested two other people, according to university spokesperson Dan Mogulof. Christopher Joseph Benton, 48, was booked into Santa Rita Jail. Jay Eduardo Maytorena, 22, a current or former UC Berkeley student, was cited and released.

A 45-year-old man was brought to the hospital after being struck in the head with a glass bottle or jar, Mogulof said. The man, who is not affiliated with the campus, suffered a laceration to his head and was transported to Highland Hospital for treatment.

Protesters expressed concern about billionaires influencing elections, the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza and said they opposed authoritarianism.

“I'm fighting for my freedom. I'm fighting for democracy,” said Amelia Stern, 17, a Berkeley High School student who attended the protest and is a member of the Sunrise Movement activist group.

Turning Point estimated that 1,500 people filled the auditorium on the UC Berkeley campus. Many wore red and white baseball caps and white T-shirts emblazoned with the word “FREEDOM” in the style that Kirk was wearing when he was shot. Outside the venue, the sounds of bottles breaking, a car backfiring and protesters chanting filled the air: “No Trump, no KKK, no fascist U.S.A.” Police wearing helmets and carrying batons confronted protesters.

Turning Point spokesperson Andrew Kolvet said some members of the crowd panicked around the time the venue opened due to the protest and decided not to go inside.

Attendees say they see movement as 'a spiritual war'

Throughout the program, Turning Point speakers honored Kirk with videos and draped an empty chair with a T-shirt like the one he wore on the day he was killed. They cast the political left as an enemy.

"Two months from this day, we witnessed one of the most tragic events in modern history when a bullet soared through the air and an assassin took the life of a courageous man. The sad truth is, the left are not your friends. They will mock and dehumanize you just so they can laugh at your corpse, all while cheering in the name of social justice," said John Paul Leon, the president of UC Berkeley's Turning Point USA chapter.

Several people who attended Turning Point’s event told The Arizona Republic, part of USA TODAY Network, that they viewed the political moment as a battle between good and evil.

“Now, it's a spiritual war. Like, seriously, everything that's going on is good versus evil,” said Leo Hipscher, 46, a commercial driver. “It's getting worse, it's like a plague going over our country, and we’ve got to stand up to it or they win.”

Hipscher attended the event with friends and family. He made custom T-shirts and hats that read “UNDER ONE GOD” and were embroidered with the male and female restroom symbols and the text “GOD MADE.”

Aaron Sanchez, 43, stood at a window inside Zellerbach Hall watching a group of protesters dance to music outside, including one wearing an animal suit. A person with a black face covering pointed a camera at the window and Sanchez held up a peace sign and a small American flag.

The Walnut Creek resident said he was disgusted when he saw Kirk had been killed and was so affected that he took the rest of the day off work. He called it one of the worst days of his life.

“I'm not opposed to civil war, honestly,” Sanchez said, noting he also supports changing minds through speech. “Not promoting violence, but if we're beyond any type of repair, then I'm OK with it. That’s all I’m saying.”

This story has been updated.

Stephanie Murray covers national politics and the Trump administration for The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. Reach her via email at stephanie.murray@gannett.com and on social media @stephanie_murr.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Feds to investigate what happened outside final Turning Point USA stop in Berkeley

Reporting by Stephanie Murray, Arizona Republic / Arizona Republic

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