UPDATED 2019/02/27 2:00PM
Activist Hayden Williams was on the UC Berkeley campus recruiting students for a grassroots conservative organization when two men assaulted him. One of the men pushed Williams and punched him in the face. Hayden is not a student at the UC Berkeley campus, but the campus chapter of Turning Point USA, asked him for recruiting assistance. Williams is a field representative for another conservative group, Leadership Institute.
On Tuesday, February 26th, 2019, UC Berkeley officials announced that police were preparing to apprehend a suspect in the assault on a felony charge. The suspect has not been named and they have not yet been issued an arrest warrant.
Conservatives are arguing that the attack garnered what they perceive as a delayed response from the police and university because of “liberal bias” in the media. They also say that this bias has garnered a lack of response from the public as well. Donald Trump Jr. even tweeted, “Wonder if it would be the same if a conservative beat up a leftist on the Berkeley campus?”
University spokesman Dan Mogulof said that the accusations that the university and the police department acted with a liberal bias were unfounded. He said, “We have a police force that is dedicated to one thing and one thing only, and that is enforcing the law and bringing people to justice. They operate independently, and they are professionals.”