The Department of Education has opened a review into the “violent protest” that disrupted a Turning Point USA event earlier this month at the University of California, Berkeley, saying the campus may have violated federal safety requirements.
The department said its office of Federal Student Aid will examine whether the university violated the section of the Higher Education Act known as the Jeanne Clery Campus Safety Act, which requires recipients of federal student assistance to meet certain security thresholds.
Protesters stormed the university Nov. 10 ahead of the last stop on Turning Point USA’s national campus tour, tussling with police and intimidating attendees. At least four people were arrested.
The Department of Justice has already launched an investigation into the protest, as has the university.
The disruptive demonstration took place two months to the day after Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was assassinated by a gunman during an outdoor event at Utah Valley University.
“Just two months after Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was brutally assassinated on a college campus, UC Berkeley allowed a protest of a Turning Point USA event on its grounds to turn unruly and violent, jeopardizing the safety of its students and staff,” said Education Secretary Linda McMahon in a Tuesday statement.
“Accordingly, the Department is conducting a review of UC Berkeley to ensure that it has the procedures in place to uphold its legal obligation to maintain campus safety and security,” she said. “This is not about students’ First Amendment rights to protest peacefully. This is about ensuring accurate and transparent reporting of crime statistics to the campus community and guaranteeing that every student can safely participate in educational programs and activities.”
She added that the “Department will vigorously investigate this matter to ensure that a recipient of federal funding is not allowing its students to be at risk.”
The Trump administration has not hesitated to crack down on universities found to violate federal law, pulling research grants from elite colleges over their handling of antisemitism and agreeing to resume them only after universities agree to costly settlements.
Berkeley Assistant Vice Chancellor Dan Mogulof said earlier this month that the university is conducting a “full investigation and intends to fully cooperate with and assist any federal investigations,” blaming the violence on “outside agitators.”
He also credited university, state and local police officers for preventing protesters from shutting down the event, although Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon blamed activists for depressing attendance.
She said Turning Point USA sold 2,000 tickets to the event featuring comedian Rob Schneider, but the university said that 900 people attended.
The Education Department said that Berkeley has a history of violating the Clery Act, noting that the university was fined $2.4 million under a 2020 settlement agreement for the “misclassification of 1,125 crimes and insufficient public crime logs.”
“Per the agreement, the Department continues to monitor the actions of UC Berkeley, including conducting periodic on-site visits,” the department’s statement reads. “The Department’s review of UC Berkeley will assess ongoing compliance issues as well as the November 10, 2025, incident.”
