A field representative from the Leadership Institute was punched in the face during an alleged attack at the University of California, Berkeley on Tuesday while training student members for Turning Point USA.
A field representative for the Leadership Institute was allegedly physically assaulted on the campus of UC Berkeley on Tuesday morning while training members for Turning Point USA (TPUSA).
A witness captured the attack on video, which was then sent to TPUSA’s founder and executive director, Charlie Kirk, who then posted it to Twitter. “Imagine if the attacker was wearing a MAGA hat,” noted Kirk in his tweet.
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Kimberly Guilfoyle reacted to the video on Twitter, calling it “disturbing.”
“Our Turning Point USA students on over 1,400 campuses experience this type of hate almost daily,” said Charlie Kirk to Breitbart News, “We will not back down to the Leftist inspired hate mob that wants to silence us.”
“If this was a MAGA hat-wearing [Trump] supporter it would be all over cable TV,” added Kirk.
The UC Berkeley student who recorded the video, Alex Szarka, told Breitbart News that he began recording the incident after witnessing the aggressor flip over a TPUSA table.
“As we were approaching the main area on campus where student groups have their tables set up, we noticed [the TPUSA student] with a sign that said something like, ‘be aware of false hate crimes,'” said Szarka to Breitbart News.
“Then we noticed the altercation — a couple of people were really getting into the [TPUSA] guy’s face,” continued the witness, “Then, one of them flipped the table over. That was when I started filming. It all happened very quickly.”
“Unfortunately, I’m not exactly surprised at what transpired,” said Szarka, adding that after the incident, he had heard an individual defending the actions of the aggressor.
“I heard a guy say something like, ‘Yeah, violence is not okay, but he was effectively asking for it by being provocative,'” said Szarka, “He was referring to the sign about Smollett.”
UC Berkeley provided Breitbart News with the following statement:
UC Berkeley strongly condemns violence and harassment of any sort, for any reason. That sort of behavior is reprehensible and intolerable. We have, in recent years, spent millions of dollars to ensure that students from across the ideological/political spectrum can safely and successfully promote and discuss their beliefs. Our commitment to freedom of expression and belief is unwavering. At this point we have no information indicating that the perpetrators are affiliated with the university. If it is determined that students were involved we will not hesitate to impose serious consequences as per our student conduct process and, if warranted, the criminal justice system. The same holds true should the evidence suggest a member of the public was involved. Yesterday, a message was sent to the campus community with a picture of the suspect, and a request that anyone with information about the incident come forward and report what they know in support of our police department’s ongoing investigation. We intend to identify and bring the perpetrators to justice.
The individual who was allegedly assaulted did not immediately respond to Breitbart News’ request for comment.
This is a developing story. Follow Breitbart News for updates.
Update — A statement from the UC Berkeley student who filmed the attack has been added to this article.
Update 2 — This article has been changed to indicate the victim of the alleged assault is not a Berkeley student, but a field representative of the Leadership Institute training TPUSA students.
Update 2 — Added UC Berkeley’s statement to Breitbart News
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Twitter at @ARmastrangelo and on Instagram.
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