Chaos erupted on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley, on Tuesday, October 23, 2024, as an argument over politics took an unexpected turn. An angry activist tossed tomato juice at a display stand erected by Turning Point USA-soaking the group’s promotional materials and signage, including the laptop of a student. The attacker was said to have thrown the glittery juice while making a comment about the “stain,” an unmistakable rebuke to TPUSA and its conservative stance.
It went down at one of the TPUSA tables on Berkeley’s campus, where members were handing out literature and get-ting into arguments with passersby alongside Chloe Cole, a young conservative personality who has become a familiar face due to her work as an anti-trans activist. Having publicly identified herself as regretful that she transitioned, Cole was the star attraction at the table. A video posted online showed the assailant, visibly enraged, dumping tomato juice all over the table. As the protester was approached by a TPUSA member who was recording the incident, she tried to shield the camera, claiming she was not violating their rights but rather “covering the camera.” After dousing them in tomato juice, the activist threw an empty bottle into the air as she walked away saying, “Good luck getting this stain out.
A witness to the incident, Cole took to social media afterward and declared her intentions to press charges on the incident as an intolerant reaction to free speech. “Just got tomato juice thrown at our booth at Berkeley. He drenched a chapter member and his MacBook,” Cole posted. You still can’t change your gender, and you can’t expect me to believe someone like this is mature enough to make life-changing decisions.” Conservative figures quickly rallied around Cole, using the incident as an example of what they describe as a growing trend of hostility toward conservative views on college campuses.
High-profile conservative voices amplified the outrage. Former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines, a staunch critic of the participation of trans women in women’s sports, posted on Sunday in support of Cole and TPUSA, saying, “A privileged unhinged trans pours tomato sauce all over TPUSA chapter members their promotional materials and a laptop. It’s as if it ever wasn’t supposed to be about tolerance and inclusivity. Yet another commentator to comment on it was Megyn Kelly, who also added, “Fake women get upset when the real ones say what’s true,” which outlined her stance on a broader issue of trans identities.
It soon went viral online, with liberal and conservative social media users arguing over what did and did not constitute an acceptable form of protest.
Some called for severe legal repercussions: as one commenter wrote, “That warrants an arrest for destruction of property and harassment. She should be expelled if she’s a student or fired if she’s an employee.” Others saw the incident as representative of the charged political climate on campus. As one student at Berkeley tweeted,
“This isn’t about free speech—TPUSA provokes students with anti-trans rhetoric.
People have limits.” Another chimed in, “Berkeley is a place for debate, not vandalism. If you don’t like TPUSA’s views, have a respectful argument.
The incident of the tomato juice does not happen in a vacuum but is an echo of that bigger wave of campus disputes throughout the nation, where polarized issues of gender, race, and politics bring about frequent confrontations. Berkeley, birthplace of student-led activism on campuses, now finds itself under scrutiny as incidents escalate beyond verbal disagreements. For many, it symbolizes debates between the struggle for free expression against an increasingly volatile atmosphere, in which ideological divides sometimes spill into open hostility. Students and faculty have been divided over what Berkeley should do in light of the incident. Some faculty members have called for workshops that would help the different viewpoints understand each other and hold peaceful discussions; others want stricter disciplinary policies to prevent incidents of this type from happening in the future.
The attacker was arrested for vandalism and may have more charges filed against him if Cole chooses to take the matter to court. No official statement has been made yet by the administration at UC Berkeley, but sources close to the matter say a full policy review regarding protest and conduct on campus has begun. Campus officials remind students that while UC Berkeley embraces free speech and argument, property destruction is a violation of code and may be punished with suspension or even expulsion.
