Turning Point USA Reporter, Protesters Clash in Bloody Campus Melee

Videos shared on social media show chaos erupting when a reporter for a conservative organization clashed with protesters near a pro-Palestinian demonstration at the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle.

The altercation occurred on campus Tuesday during a planned event featuring Charlie Kirk, founder and president of Turning Point USA. Kirk, whose organization has chapters at over 2,000 colleges nationwide, was at UW for a Q&A session and speech when the bloody melee involving one of his reporters broke out.

Videos shared on X, formerly Twitter, show a scuffle involving a Turning Point staffer and a group of masked individuals who wore all black, held umbrellas and were seen taunting Kirk in other videos.

It was unclear at the time of publication how the brawl escalated or who initiated the violence.

Kirk said in an X post that Jonathan Choe, reporter for Turning Point's Frontlines, and a security guard were "attacked" by the masked group. Choe, sporting a turquoise jacket, can be seen in the clips trying to flee from the scuffle.

"Our @TPUSA Frontlines reporter Jonathan Choe and his security guard have just been attacked by ANTIFA thugs as they were reporting near the UW encampment," Kirk wrote on X. "His security was punched multiple times and bloodied before he and Choe fled. Police are on the scene ..."

Newsweek reached out via email on Tuesday night to Turning Point representatives for comment.

UW spokesperson Victor Balta told Newsweek in an email that the scuffle is under investigation.

"UW Police are busy keeping the TPUSA event and other areas of campus as safe as possible," Balta said. "We take any assault seriously and UWPD will be investigating these incidents, gathering statements and video footage that may be available."

In a post on X, Choe called out the university's leaders and Washington's Democratic Governor Jay Inslee over the incident.

"There goes the neighborhood," Choe wrote in one post. "Massive battle royale at the UW Quad Tuesday afternoon. An Antifa mob and their soy boyfriends tried to corner me and my crew. They always send the skinniest dudes or the most overweight activists in my direction. Thank you @schwaarzy for capturing this. We have more footage on the way. We filed multiple police reports. Why are @UW leaders allowing these far-left activists to camp with students?"

In another post, Choe referred to the people in the altercation as "Antifa militants" and called on university officials and the governor to "clear" the encampment, which was set up on UW's campus as part of a nationwide pro-Palestinian movement.

"What a freakin' zoo! How much longer will Gov. Inslee and UW leaders allow this Hamas encampment to remain? It's been infiltrated by Antifa militants," Choe wrote. "The same losers who destroyed Seattle during the 2020 BLM riots! Clear it now! @UW @GovInslee."

The altercation broke out near the encampment at UW, among the dozens of pro-Palestinian demonstrations that have spread across campuses in the U.S. The movement began after the arrests of protesters who set up a "Gaza Solidarity Encampment" at Columbia University in New York City on April 18. Hundreds of protesters have since been arrested at the university encampments nationwide. Protesters have been demanding that institutions of higher learning divest from companies supporting Israel, along with pressing for a permanent ceasefire to end the Israel-Hamas war.