Le Journal

By Matthew Rehbein, CNN (CNN) — The Department of Justice announced Tuesday it is investigating protests that broke out at the University of California, Berkeley, this week during an event held by Turning Point USA, the group founded by slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk that caters to youth on American campuses. Protesters gathered hours before the event, with some seen in standoffs with lines of police. Several arrests were made by both city and university officers, according to UC Berkeley spokesperson Dan Mogulof, who condemned any violence around the event. Both the FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force and the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division will investigate what happened during the event Monday, according to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, who oversees the Civil Rights Division. The investigation will involve “a deep dive into all the potential criminal and civil aspects of this horrific situation, including our concerns about UC Berkeley’s history of not protecting conservative speakers on its campus,” Dhillon said on X, noting the UC Berkeley Police Department has been asked to preserve all records regarding its response at Monday’s event. The university is conducting its own investigation and will fully cooperate with federal authorities “to identify the outside agitators responsible for attempting to disrupt last night’s TPUSA event,” Mogulof said in a statement Tuesday. “There is no place at UC Berkeley for attempts to use violence or intimidation to prevent lawful expression or chill free speech,” Mogulof said. The university spokesperson noted the Turning Point event “proceeded safely and without interruption, with more than 900 participants in attendance.” At least three people were arrested Monday, the UC Berkeley police department and the city’s Berkeley Police Department told CNN affiliate KGO. One of those was a student who was released after being cited. Another individual was charged with trespassing and obstruction, according to KGO. One man seen being taken into custody with a bloodied face was later identified by police as a victim and released. Witnesses told KGO the man was assaulted while selling Turning Point merchandise. Another man taken in custody at the same time was charged with robbery and battery, KGO reported. CNN has reached out to university and city police for more details. Both Dhillon and Bondi described the protests as violent and blamed Antifa, the anti-fascism movement President Donald Trump designated as a domestic terrorist organization in September. Last month the DOJ brought its first federal terrorism case against alleged Antifa-aligned operatives. “The violent riots at UC Berkeley last night are under full investigation by the FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force. We will continue to spare no expense unmasking all who commit and orchestrate acts of political violence,” Bondi wrote on X, describing Antifa as “an existential threat to our nation.” The president of Turning Point’s UC Berkeley chapter condemned the violence but acknowledged most protests on Monday were peaceful, according to KGO. “There’s only a handful of incidents … but a handful of incidents is too many,” chapter president John Paul Leon said. The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved. The post Justice Department investigating UC Berkeley protests during Turning Point USA event appeared first on KRDO.

By Aleks Klosok, Amanda Davies, CNN Turin, Italy (CNN) — 2025 was an epic year for American women’s tennis. Two singles grand slam champions in the shape of Madison Keys and Coco Gauff, who reigned supreme at the Australian and French Opens, respectively. An American featured in all four singles grand slam finals, with Amanda Anisimova finishing runner-up at both Wimbledon and US Open finals. Statistically, it was the most successful season for American women on record in nearly a quarter of a century. The bold accomplishments and records by their compatriots are not lost on male counterparts Taylor Fritz and Ben Shelton. Inspired by the repeated achievements of the US women, the American duo – who compete at this week’s season-ending Nitto ATP Finals in Turin – stand ready to grasp the nettle and write their own piece of history. “It’s not just this year that they’ve had really success, it’s pretty much every year for a long time,” Fritz tells CNN Sports. “The women have been really carrying US tennis, so it is time for the men to step up.” Upwards trajectory And step up is what the US pair have done. After four American women – the aforementioned trio plus Jessica Pegula – competed in the WTA Finals in Riyadh earlier this month, the most since 2002, Fritz and Shelton have laid down their own marker. The 28- and 23-year-olds, respectively, became the first pair to represent the US in the singles at the men’s equivalent event for 19 years. You have to go all the way back to 2006 in Shanghai for the last time that happened, when major champion Andy Roddick and James Blake made up the eight-man field. That year, Blake made an impressive run to the title match before eventually losing out to Roger Federer. Fast forward to this year and Fritz returned to Turin for a third time, having been a semifinalist in 2022 and a runner-up last year, while Shelton is making his debut. Despite his loss to Jannik Sinner in the 2024 Final, for Fritz, it was the cherry on top of a career-best year that saw him reach the final at Flushing Meadows off the back of two grand slam quarterfinal appearances in Melbourne and Wimbledon. “I felt like my level at the end of the year was really good,” says the 6-foot-5-inch right-hander. “I proved a lot of things that gave me a lot of confidence that I’m really right there and also made it clear as well, the things that I need to improve on … moving forward to try to contend against the other top guys.” ‘This is where you want to be’ While not scaling the same heights this year, Fritz has still added two trophies to his cabinet. For Shelton, 2025 has been a year of marked improvement, backed up by a maiden ATP Masters 1000 title in Toronto – his biggest tournament victory to date. All this having finished outside the world’s top 20 last year. And the rising Atlanta-born star is relishing the opportunity to compete with some of the biggest names on the biggest stage this week. “This was a big goal for me at the beginning of the year,” he says smiling. “I knew that I had my work cut out and had a lot of improvements that I needed to make to be here at the end of the year. “This is where you want to be, this is where you want to end your year … making the last push in a place like this with a lot on the line makes it pretty easy.” And an added incentive lies in both players knowing that whoever performs better on the blue indoor courts of Turin will end the year as the No. 1 American. Grand slam quest Shelton, though, is not content with just participating. He, like Fritz, wants to regularly compete for the biggest and best prizes in the sport. And that means winning majors. While in this day and age and on current form it seems hard, if not near enough impossible, for anyone to lay even a glove on the current irresistible force in the men’s game – that of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz – the American is convinced the stranglehold can be broken. It’s a bold claim, considering he and Fritz have combined for…