FROM THE HILL: The Trump administration, long critical of the way colleges handle campus protests, is sending a clear warning after multiple arrests were made outside of a Turning Point USA event this week.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) swiftly announced an investigation after anti-fascist demonstrators gathered at the University of California, Berkeley, against the last Turning Point stop of its college tour, which had begun with the event where the group’s founder, Charlie Kirk, was assassinated.
The administration has repeatedly cut or frozen the federal funding of schools that it feels have failed to keep the peace, and the first major protest of the academic year offered it a clear contrast: a university long seen as one of the most liberal in the country, and an advocacy group the president backs wholeheartedly.
Rioters were chanting, “No Trump, No KKK, no fascist USA” and “F— your dead homie,” referencing Kirk, according to a report from Berkeleyside.
At least three people were arrested during the protests.
“This administration, @TheJusticeDept, and @CivilRights will be doing a deep dive into all the potential criminal and civil aspects of this horrific situation, including our concerns about UC Berkeley’s history of not protecting conservative speakers on its campus,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who oversees DOJ’s Civil Rights Division.
The university, meanwhile, is working to ensure the protesters’ right to free speech is being protected. It condemned the “use violence or intimidation to prevent lawful expression or chill free speech.”
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