Conservative groups are calling on the University of California, Berkeley to take action against a campus employee who praised an alleged assault on an activist who was recruiting at a table. The university employee, Yuvi Panda, cheered the alleged assault – which campus police said happened on Tuesday -- on Twitter on Wednesday night. He tweeted: “OH MY GOD THE MAGA PEOPLE ON UC BERKELEY CAMPUS YESTERDAY GOT PUNCHED IN THE FACE BY SOMEONE THIS MAKES ME FEEL EMOTIONALLY SO MUCH BETTER.” In a news release Friday night, UC Berkeley officials announced that police had identified a potential suspect "Based on current information available to the department," the statement read, "the suspect is not a student at, or affiliate of, the university." The person was not named in the news release, which urged anyone with information to share it and aid in efforts at apprehension. The release also took pains to say that UC Berkeley did not condone such behavior. "Let there be no mistake," it said, "we strongly condemn violence and harassment of any sort, for any reason. That sort of behavior is intolerable and has no place here. Our commitment to freedom of expression and belief is unwavering.” The statement did not make reference to Panda, who had thanked the attacker for punching conservative activist Hayden Williams and “not letting it go unchallenged.” “Hope you aren’t in too much trouble,” he added, before adding an expletive addressed to Turning Point USA, the organization that had been recruiting at the time. CONSERVATIVE ACTIVIST ASSAULTED AT UC-BERKELEY CAMPUS DURING RECRUITMENT DRIVE In the incident, captured on cellphone video, two males walked up to the table containing information about Turning Point USA and engaged in an argument with Hayden Williams, who was sitting there. As Williams began to film the incident with his cell phone, one of the men is seen punching him several times. It was also filmed by at least one witness. The Turning Point table was also knocked over and their signs were ripped, according to accounts by people who were there. Williams, who is not a student, is a field representative of the Leadership Institute, and in that role helps train and organize conservative students on college campuses across the country. He had been invited by Turning Point USA, which is in the midst of establishing a chapter at Berkeley, to man the table at the plaza on campus. CONSERVATIVE ACTIVIST TELLS 'HANNITY' ABOUT ALLEGED ASSAULT ON UC BERKELEY CAMPUS In an interview Friday with Fox News, Williams said that the two men who approached him took issue with a sign at the table that said “Hate Crime Hoaxes Hurt Real Victims," in an apparent reference to the Jussie Smollett scandal, and accused the group of promoting violence. He said that a student and his friend walked up to the table "erratically and abruptly," cursing at him for the conservative signs and literature at the table. The signs included support for President Donald Trump and the one about bogus hate crime allegations. Williams, 26, told Fox News on Friday that he’s been attacked before while helping recruit on college campuses, including two weeks ago at U.C.L.A., but never to the degree he was on Tuesday. “We get all sorts of flack at Berkeley,” he said. “I’m an easy target for these people. I’m a small guy.” Williams said Tuesday’s attack was “discomforting.” “It does make me fear for my safety,” he said. He lamented the glee many are expressing on social media over the violence on Tuesday. "The person who assaulted me is being hailed as a hero by the campus community, many people are told not to snitch on him. That’s how hostile campuses are to conservatives. People think it’s totally justified to violently attack conservatives because they disagree with their views." Panda works at Berkeley’s Data Science Education Program as a DevOps Architect, according to the university’s website. Campus Reform, a news site that is operated by the Leadership Institute, said that UC-Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof confirmed Panda's employment at the school. “This person does not speak for the university, does not represent the university, and does not share the university’s values,” Mogulof told Campus Reform. “The University has made clear through word and deed that violence and harassment are reprehensible and intolerable, no matter who the perpetrators and victims are, or what they believe in.” “We have sent a message to the entire campus community with a picture of the suspect and a strong request that those with information come forward to report what they know. We very much want to identify the suspects and bring those responsible to justice,” he added. CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP “While we have no legal ability to control or sanction what employees do during their free time, it should be absolutely clear that any expression of approval and support for violence stands in complete and total opposition to the values, commitments, and policies of this university,” said, adding that Panda "does not speak for the university, does not represent the university, and does not share the university’s values." Williams, meanwhile, says he will not be intimidated into staying quiet about his conservative views. He will continue being an advocate, he said, “because of dedication to our beliefs and values.”<doc-sep>(CNN) — The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office has filed three felony charges and one misdemeanor against Zachary Greenberg after an attack on the University of California Berkeley campus against a conservative activist. The attack was caught on video. UC Berkeley campus police arrested Greenberg on Friday. He bonded out of jail and his arraignment is set for Wednesday. CNN has reached out to Greenberg’s representatives for comment. The attack occurred at Sproul Plaza on February 19, officials said. Turning Point USA identified the alleged victim to CNN as Hayden Williams, who had been invited to UC Berkeley to help recruit students for a yet-to-be-formed chapter on campus. Deputy District Attorney Rebecca Warren filed the charges against Greenberg. They include felony assault, felony battery, felony criminal threats and a misdemeanor vandalism charge. The criminal threats charge says it is a “serious felony” and further alleges “that the threatened crime, on its face and under the circumstances in which it was made, was so unequivocal, unconditional, immediate and specific as to convey to Hayden Williams a gravity of purpose and an immediate prospect of execution.” Before the charges were filed, a media representative for Williams said he is a field representative for the Leadership Institute, an organization that helps train conservative leaders. Williams is not a UC Berkeley student, the representative said. “The fact that the victim was not a campus affiliate has no bearing on this case. He had every right to be on campus, and every right to express his point of view,” said university spokesman Dan Mogulof. Incident caught on video, shows two attackers A short video recorded by a witness shows Williams and a man struggling before the man punches Williams in the face, knocking his hat off. The alleged suspect then gets close to Williams’ face, calls him “racist,” and shouts profanities before punching Williams again and walking away. Williams told CNN shortly after the assault that he was fine but declined to answer other questions. He was treated at the scene, his media representative said. Arda Erbil, the student who shot the footage provided to CNN, said he saw two men harassing Williams. As one of the men became physical, Erbil began to record video. “Seeing something like that happen in such an open place was disheartening,” he said. The University of California Police Department said in a statement that officers responded to a “report of a disturbance” on upper Sproul Plaza, a center of student activity on campus, where they found the injured victim. According to the police statement, the victim said that two men approached him, a verbal altercation ensued and he began recording the interaction on his phone. One of the men “slapped the phone out of the victim’s hand,” police said. “The suspect then knocked over the table the victim was at and the two men struggled over the phone. During the incident, the suspect punched the victim several times causing injury to the victim’s eye and nose.” Williams told Fox News’ Sean Hannity shortly after the attack that some students were upset by a sign he had displayed at his recruitment table that said, “Hate Crime Hoaxes Hurt Real Victims” – apparently a reference to “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett, who has been accused of staging what he maintains was a hate crime against him. “This person claimed we were promoting violence on campus and proceeded to take his aggression out on us,” Williams told Hannity. University condemns assault UC Berkeley’s chancellor and vice chancellor condemned the assault in a statement February 21, calling it “reprehensible.” “That sort of behavior is intolerable and has no place here,” the statement said. “Our commitment to freedom of expression and belief is unwavering.” The statement added that university officials have “no information indicating” the perpetrators are affiliated with UC Berkeley. The incident illustrates the “hate and anger so many on the left harbor and that our student activists encounter on a daily basis,” Charlie Kirk, Turning Point USA’s founder and president, said in a statement last month. “Our amazing grassroots organizers courageously face threats of violence and discrimination as they fight for the right for conservative voices to be heard on college campuses,” Kirk said, adding he was proud of how the group’s student activists handled the situation. Campus known for promoting free speech accused of bias against conservative views While UC Berkeley has a long history of promoting the tenants of free speech, in recent years there have been protests against conservatives and far right ideologues that have turned violent. In 2017, a number of protests broke out ahead of speaking engagements by conservative commentators such as Milo Yiannopoulos and Ann Coulter. Neither of those events went forward. Later that year, conservative radio host Ben Shapiro gave a talk as protesters swarmed outside. Nine people were arrested, but the protests appeared to be mostly peaceful. CNN’s Sarah Moon and Margaret Shuttleworth contributed to this report.<doc-sep>A conservative activist and member of Turning Point USA was punched in the face during an assault caught on video at the University of California Berkeley. The activist was protesting with other members of the right-wing group when they were confronted by an unidentified man. During the altercation, the man attacked the UC Berkeley student, striking him multiple times, videos show. The activist, Haydon Williams, suffered an eye injury during the incident, according to a photo posted to social media by his friends on Thursday. The UC Berkeley police investigated and asked for the public’s help in identifying the suspect in the assault. The incident occurred on the afternoon of February 29. The suspect was arrested in early March and identified as 28-year-old Zachary Greenberg, a former Berkeley employee. Greenberg was charged with assault with a deadly weapon and attempting to cause great bodily injury. You can read more about him here. Williams and other members of TPUSA were “tabling” in the Upper Sproul Plaza when the incident occurred. They were passing out pamphlets and information about their group in hopes of recruiting new members. They were also holding signs related to the Jussie Smollett controversy. One of the signs shown in social media postings included the phrase, “This is MAGA country,” which Smollett, a gay black actor who stars on the Fox TV show “Empire,” claimed his attackers said to him during an alleged hate crime in Chicago. Police have since arrested Smollett on a felony charge accusing him of falsifying a police report and say evidence showed the actor fabricated the attack as a “publicity stunt” because he wanted to make more money. Another sign held up by the activists during the TPUSA event said, “hate crime hoaxes hurt real victims.” The altercation was recorded at two different angles. The first angle shows the incident from a bystander’s perspective. You can watch that video below: UC BERKELEY STUDENT ASSAULTS LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE EMPLOYEE – 1A Leadership Institute campus recruiter was assaulted on campus yesterday over a sign saying "Hate Crime Hoaxes Hurt Real Victims." 2019-02-21T18:11:13.000Z The video shows Williams holding his cell phone camera in the face of the man now identified by police as Zachary Greenberg. The man can be heard telling Williams to “get the f*ck out of my face,” as he pushes the camera and Williams’ arms away. He then pulls a sweatshirt or jacket off of Williams, whipping him around as he does. The man then gets back into Williams’ face, cursing at him and calling him a racist and inbred, before suddenly sucker-punching him in the cheek. Williams staggers back and the man walks away, cursing at him again. A second video showed the incident from Williams’ perspective. You can watch that video below: UC BERKELEY STUDENT ASSAULTS LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE EMPLOYEE – 2A Leadership Institute campus recruiter was assaulted on campus yesterday over a sign saying "Hate Crime Hoaxes Hurt Real Victims." 2019-02-21T18:13:20.000Z That video starts with another man, who is not the suspect in the assault, talking to Williams and asking what he is doing. That man tells Williams, “you are f*cking encouraging violence.” That video shows Williams being struck multiple times by the suspect, who says he doesn’t have permission to film him. The unidentified suspect also tells Williams “you want to hit me? I’ll shoot your ass.” Williams told the website Campus Reform, “Some students nearby tabling were laughing, even one guy was smiling while I was being attacked and trying to hand me his flyer as a joke. The idea is free speech has consequences…. which include you getting assaulted if they find you promoting ideas others don’t agree with.” The University of California Police Say They Were Called to a Report of Men Fighting The University of California Police Department issued a statement on February 20 saying, “On February 19th, 2019 at 3:29pm UCPD received a report of a disturbance on Upper Sproul Plaza. A witness (UC student) reported to UCPD Officers that two males had just been fighting.” Police added, “UCPD Officers found an injured male on the Plaza who reported he had been assaulted. The victim reported he had been ‘tabling’ for the group Turning Point when two males approached the table. When a verbal altercation started, the victim began filming the interaction with his phone.” My friend, Hayden, wants to thank all of you for the love and support. He’s giving you a wink, and wanted to let you know you’ll be hearing from him soon! pic.twitter.com/6kPmFZgQgz — Brad Devlin (@bradleydevlin) February 21, 2019 According to UC Berkeley police, “A physical confrontation ensued when one of the two men slapped the phone out of the victim’s hand. The suspect then knocked over the table the victim was at and the two men struggled over the phone. During the incident, the suspect punched the victim several times causing injury to the victim’s eye and nose.” Police said they are asking the public to help identify the suspect. “The suspect left the area before police arrived. UCPD is investigating this case and asks that anyone who has information about this matter or the pictured suspect to call 510-642-6760,” police said in the alert. Guillermina Castro, a UC Berkeley freshman who told Fox News she is among students trying to start a TPUSA chapter at the school, said she was not at the table when the incident occurred. When she came back, “I saw our sign ripped up, all our papers were on the floor, Hayden was covering his [injured] eye. I said ‘Oh my God, what happened?’ He said that a guy had just punched him in the face.” Another student, who filmed the altercation, Alex Szarka, told Fox News, “I was walking by when I saw it, it escalated so quickly. The Turning Point USA table had signs that on a campus like Berkeley, would be seen as provocative. I was surprised to see [the reaction] be this bad. I would like to see the guy get arrested, and expelled immediately. In any other situation, without the politics, this would absolutely be a very well-publicized thing. I was in disbelief.”<doc-sep>The Washington Post finally got around to covering a recent attack on a conservative activist at the University of California at Berkeley on Wednesday – but put an emphasis on the fact that conservatives were upset about the situation. It has become common practice for mainstream media organizations to focus on the “Republicans pounce” aspect of any story that would appear unfavorable to the left. In this case, the Post's story was headlined: “A conservative activist was punched in the face at UC Berkeley. The response enraged the right." It cited a Fox News report published Tuesday, one of several which has been published since the incident occurred last week. CONSERVATIVES CALL OUT UC POLICE FOR LACK OF ARREST ONE WEEK AFTER BERKELEY CAMPUS ASSAULT ON ACTIVIST The incident, which was captured on a cell phone, occurred as the activist, Hayden Williams, was manning a recruiting table for Turning Point USA, a conservative organization. Williams, who is not a student, told Fox News last week that he filed a police report immediately after the incident. Alex Szarka, a Berkeley junior, told Fox News he was walking on campus last week when he saw the altercation and decided to videotape it. The attack quickly went viral in conservative circles but was largely overlooked by the mainstream media. A search of Williams’ name and the word "Berkeley" on the Post’s website doesn’t show any mention of the attack prior to Wednesday’s piece about the right being “enraged.” ACTIVIST ASSAULTED AT BERKELEY SAYS CAMPUSES EMBEDDED WITH CULTURE OF HOSTILITY TO CONSERVATIVES Post reporter Katie Mettler wrote that UC Berkeley officials were gearing up to apprehend the suspect but pivoted to the response of conservatives by the third paragraph. “The news comes after a seven-day campaign by conservative activists both at Berkeley and nationally, who have argued, on social media, right-leaning political websites and Fox News, that because of liberal bias, the attack garnered what they perceive as a delayed response from the police and university and a muted response from the public,” Mettler wrote. Mettler cited a Donald Trump Jr. tweet in which the president’s oldest son pondered, “Wonder if it would be the same if a conservative beat up a leftist on the Berkeley Campus?” The Post then put an emphasis on the university denying that it acted with a liberal bias before detailing the attack itself. Media Research Center vice president Dan Gainor is among the critics of the newspaper’s coverage. “This is incredible," Gainor told Fox News. "The left-wing Washington Post ignores a hate crime against a young conservative for eight days. Then when it finally chimes in, it’s with the latest version of conservatives pounce. “Instead of reporting the news, the Post notes how conservatives are upset and that, ‘The response enraged the right.’” MSNBC'S AVOIDANCE OF JUSSIE SMOLLETT STORY DURING PRIMETIME 'A POLITICALLY BIASED JOURNALISTIC CHOICE,’ EXPERT SAYS Gainor added: “How dare right-wingers be upset that someone got attacked on a college campus because of his politics and the major media all-but ignored it? Especially after turning repeated hate hoaxes into national news stories – like Jussie Smollett. It’s also worth noting that the Post is being sued for $250 million for how awfully it covered the Covington hoax". The Washington Post did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The framing of the story was quickly ridiculed on social media: Meanwhile, Williams told Fox News on Friday that he’s been attacked before while helping recruit on college campuses, including two weeks ago at U.C.L.A., but never to the degree he was at Berkeley. Fox News’ Elizabeth Llorente contributed to this report.<doc-sep>
(CNN) — A conservative activist reported he was attacked while recruiting students for Turning Point USA at UC Berkeley, according to campus police. The University of California Police Department said in a statement that officers responded Tuesday afternoon to a “report of a disturbance” on upper Sproul Plaza, a center of student activity on campus, where they found the injured victim. An investigation is continuing, the university said Friday. According to the police statement, the victim said that two men approached him, a verbal altercation ensued and he began recording the interaction on his phone. One of the men “slapped the phone out of the victim’s hand,” police said. “The suspect then knocked over the table the victim was at and the two men struggled over the phone. During the incident, the suspect punched the victim several times causing injury to the victim’s eye and nose.” Turning Point USA later identified the alleged victim to CNN as Hayden Williams, who had been invited to UC Berkeley to help recruit students for a yet-to-be-formed chapter on campus. A media representative for Williams said he is a field representative for the Leadership Institute, an organization that helps train conservative leaders. Williams is not a UC Berkeley student, the representative said. “The fact that the victim was not a campus affiliate has no bearing on this case. He had every right to be on campus, and every right to express his point of view,” said campus spokesman Dan Mogulof. On Friday, the campus police department said in a statement it had identified the suspect as Zachary Greenberg, who was arrested and booked. UC police said it would present the case to the “Alameda County District Attorney’s Office for consideration of the filing of criminal charges.” No further information on Greenberg was given. The department’s information indicated “the suspect is not a student at, or affiliate of the University.” Violence was ‘disheartening,’ student says Williams told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Thursday that some students were upset by a sign he had displayed at his recruitment table that said, “Hate Crime Hoaxes Hurt Real Victims” – apparently a reference to “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett, who has been accused of staging what he maintains was a hate crime against him. “This person claimed we were promoting violence on campus and proceeded to take his aggression out on us,” Williams told Hannity. A short video recorded by a witness shows Williams and a man struggling before the man punches Williams in the face, knocking his hat off. The alleged suspect then gets close to Williams’ face, calls him “racist,” and shouts profanities before punching Williams again and walking away. Williams told CNN he is fine but declined to answer other questions. He was treated at the scene, his media representative said. Arda Erbil, the student who shot the footage provided to CNN, said he saw two men harassing Williams. As one of the men became physical, Erbil began to record video. “Seeing something like that happen in such an open place was disheartening,” he said. UC Berkeley’s chancellor and vice chancellor condemned the assault in a statement Thursday, calling it “reprehensible.” “That sort of behavior is intolerable and has no place here,” the statement said. “Our commitment to freedom of expression and belief is unwavering.” The statement added that university officials have “no information indicating” the perpetrators are affiliated with UC Berkeley. School has history of protests against conservatives The incident illustrates the “hate and anger so many on the left harbor and that our student activists encounter on a daily basis,” Charlie Kirk, Turning Point USA’s founder and president, said in a statement Thursday. “Our amazing grassroots organizers courageously face threats of violence and discrimination as they fight for the right for conservative voices to be heard on college campuses,” Kirk said, adding he was proud of how the group’s student activists handled the situation. UC Berkeley’s campus has had a number of incidents in recent years involving the protesting of conservative commentators and personalities. In 2017, a number of protests broke out ahead of speaking engagements by conservative commentators such as Milo Yiannopoulos and Ann Coulter. Neither of those events went forward. Later that year, conservative radio host Ben Shapiro gave a talk as protesters swarmed outside. Nine people were arrested, but the protests appeared to be mostly peaceful. CNN’s Margaret Shuttleworth contributed to this report.