Police arrested four UC Berkeley students Monday on suspicion of felony vandalism in the run-up to a Turning Point USA event planned on campus at Zellerbach Hall.
Hundreds are expected to attend Monday night’s event, which will honor Turning Point founder Charlie Kirk two months after he was assassinated at Utah Valley University.
Others have said they will protest it.
It’s the final night for Turning Point’s “American Comeback Tour, which began Sept. 22. Tickets are required.
Organizers say the event, hosted by UC Berkeley’s TPUSA chapter and featuring actor and comedian Rob Schneider and Christian author Frank Turek, is sold out.
The University of California Police Department declined to share details about security plans Monday afternoon, but said officers were working to prepare for the night ahead.
The arrests took place shortly after midnight at Sather Gate when UCPD officers spotted “suspicious people” in the area wearing masks, authorities said.
As officers got closer, they found 28 flyers that had been glued to the historic gate, police said.
A ribbon was also found dangling from the structure, authorities said, possibly in preparation to hang a large sculpture found nearby.
The Daily Californian described the sculpture as a 5-foot-tall “cardboard bug” that was intended to protest the Turning Point event.
According to the Daily Californian, the notices that were posted featured quotations attributed to Kirk decrying abortion, gun control and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
“Hate is not welcome on our campus,” said the flyers, which announced a protest rally beginning at 4:30 p.m. Monday outside Zellerbach Hall.
The notices pointed to the Students Organizing for Liberation at UC Berkeley Instagram account.
UCPD determined that the vandalism had caused more than $400 in damage and arrested the students, all young women aged 20-22.
As of publication time, all four remained in custody at Santa Rita Jail in Dublin with bail ranging from $10,000 to $20,000, according to booking records.
They are set for arraignment Thursday morning at Wiley Manuel Courthouse in Oakland.
None of the students have prior criminal cases in Alameda County, according to court records.
Stay tuned for updates.
