- Vandals shattered windows and assaulted individuals outside of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk’s speech at the University of California, Davis, on Tuesday.
- Two protesters were arrested and one officer was injured during the events, the university reported.
- “We’re not going to put up with force of trying to shut down people you don’t like,” Kirk said during his speech.
Vandals protesting Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk during his speech at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis), Tuesday night shattered windows and assaulted individuals outside the venue, according to videos posted to Twitter.
Kirk was invited to UC Davis by the TPUSA chapter as part of his Live Free tour, which features stops at eight universities across the country during the spring 2023 semester, according to the TPUSA website. Protesters dressed in black to rally outside the venue and can be seen on video breaking windows after security secured the doors and assaulting individuals outside the venue.
The protesters held two large banners reading “Queers Bash Back” and “BashFash,” and charged the doors outside of the building, according to the video posted by TPUSA. They began to kick the windows and shattered the glass after security locked the doors.
🚨BREAKING: Antifa is attempting to overrun the venue hosting Charlie Kirk at UC Davis. They have begun violently smashing through the windows in an attempt to shut down the voice of those they oppose pic.twitter.com/2EXQprQAZJ
— Turning Point USA (@TPUSA) March 15, 2023
Ten glass panes were broken during the incident and no related arrests were made, the university announced Tuesday night. Approximately 100 protesters remained outside and blocked the entrance, threw eggs and pepper spray was reportedly used by “others in the crowd.”
The university said that Kirk’s speech “occurred with minor incidents,” according to the statement. One officer sustained a minor injury after being pushed to the ground and two protesters were arrested for charges including vandalism, resisting arrest and threats on a police officer.
Riot police tackle and make arrests of Antifa vandals and protesters outside @TPUSA Charlie Kirk event being held on campus tonight. pic.twitter.com/t9SseAiKlf
— Rebecca Brannon (@RebsBrannon) March 15, 2023
Protesters assaulted a UC Davis student with black umbrellas after he shoved a group holding a sign which read “Protect Trans Kids,” according to video of the incident.
Davis, CA
Antifa and far leftists pepper spray and hit UC Davis student with umbrellas.
They’re currently blocking student pathways protesting a @TPUSA Charlie Kirk event on campus tonight. pic.twitter.com/qSoS7mTnP5
— Rebecca Brannon (@RebsBrannon) March 15, 2023
Kirk spoke to a crowd of 500 people, UC Davis reported. Kirk referred to the vandals as “terrorists,” according to a video published by Citizen Free Press.
“We’re not going to put up with force of trying to shut down people you don’t like,” Kirk said. “Tonight is a statement to them that they’re the losers.”
The event was successful but the protests could have impacted the number of attendees, Andrew Kolvet, TPUSA spokesperson, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. He estimated that more than 800 people attended.
“The ‘mostly peaceful’ protests probably kept some attendees out of the event as they expressly trying to block people from entering the venue,” he said. “Furthermore, news of the protest attracted many local news outlets and was spread online so we know some folks stayed home out of fear of violence.”
Before the event, the Sacramento Bee published an opinion piece that accused Kirk of “calling for for the lynching of trans people,” according to a screenshot published by Kirk. The column was reportedly “pulled down” to remove the accusations.
UPDATE: SacBee has pulled down the original column and removed references to “Fascist” and “Lynching” and included a a notation of changes. Despite this, SacBee reporter @SacBeeNightCops is still parroting this lie. If anyone gets hurt tonight Sacbee played a prominent role https://t.co/1PvXtLbWtM pic.twitter.com/8JNVwB0bKs
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) March 14, 2023
Sacramento Bee reporter Rosalie Ahumada later deleted a tweet in which he allegedly wrote Kirk “advocated violence against transgender people and misinformation” and said the language he used was “not precise.”
I deleted a previous tweet because the language I used was not precise. Apologies for the error.
— Rosalio Ahumada (@SacBeeNightCops) March 15, 2023
UC Davis Chancellor Gary May thanked community members for “sharing [their] distress at a student group hosting a speaker who is a well-documented proponent of misinformation and hate and advocated for violence against transgender individuals” in a video published ahead of the event.
“TPUSA is strongly considering legal action and is consulting with counsel now. While we’re grateful the Sacramento Bee has apologized for publishing a version of the column that perpetuated the lie that Charlie Kirk advocated for violence against trans people, that libel definitely contributed to some of the violence we witnessed at UC Davis. Even UC Davis Chancellor Gary S. May parroted the lie in an official university video before the event,” Kolvet told the DCNF. “These lies had material impact on raising the temperature of the agitators and helped incite violence that resulted in multiple arrests and at least one injured police officer. We’ll be updated as more information becomes available.”
The UC Davis police department, Sacramento Bee and Ahumada did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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