Students Organizing for Liberation at UC Berkeley, a group that has previously organized protests against conservative speakers on campus, has used the song ‘Bella Ciao’ — previously found etched on bullet casings from the alleged killer of Charlie Kirk — in their advertisement for a protest against a Turning Point USA event. While some have suggested that the group’s use of the song was intended to draw a parallel to the murder, the group has not acknowledged a direct link. The protest, which aims to challenge TPUSA’s message and presence on campus, calls for attendees to bring noisemakers and to confront the organization with its ‘message of hate and intimidation.’ The event, scheduled for Monday at Zellerbach Hall, is the first TPUSA tour stop since Kirk’s assassination in September 2022. The group will be represented by comedian Rob Schneider and author Frank Turek, both of whom have replaced Kirk in the event’s lineup.
The group’s flyer has been widely shared on campus and features a critique of TPUSA, calling it a ‘fascist’ organization with a goal of ‘radicalizing students into far right politics.’ The flyer also includes a photo of Kirk with former President Donald Trump, mocking his legacy and criticizing TPUSA for aligning with Trump’s political ideology. In addition, the flyer critiques Schneider, calling him a ‘failed comedian and parent’ who ‘makes ‘jokes’ punching down on women, people of color, and spreads disinformation about vaccines.’ It also labels Turek as a ‘Christian pseudoscience peddling ‘author’ who believes in LGBTQI+ conversion therapy,’ and argues that Turek’s views are ‘opposed to Black Lives Matter for