Sacramento woman answers to charges from UC Davis event for Turning Point USA
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Joanna Sodke pleaded not guilty to criminal charges stemming from TPUSA incident.
- Yolo County prosecutors charged Sodke seven months after the UC Davis protest.
- Prosecutors allege Sodke and Chole Peterson conspired to disrupt the event.
A Sacramento woman on Friday made her first Yolo Superior Court appearance since her arrest on charges stemming from an April protest at UC Davis that drew national attention amid growing tensions over campus visits by conservative speakers.
Joanna Clara Sodke, 22, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of felony conspiracy to commit a riot and misdemeanor battery in connection with a disruption at an April 3 Turning Point USA event featuring commentator Brandon Tatum. She was released from the jail later in the day after posting a bail bond, jail records show.
On Friday afternoon, Sodke appeared in court with her defense attorney, Chris Walsh. Sodke pleaded not guilty to the charges. Judge Clara M. Levers scheduled Sodke to return court Dec. 15 for further proceedings in her criminal case.
The April 3 confrontation at UC Davis unfolded before the event began and was widely circulated online within hours, drawing attention from high-profile conservatives including Elon Musk and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, who was assassinated in September while speaking at a Turning Point event at Utah Valley University.
Turning Point USA is a conservative youth organization with chapters on college campuses nationwide that has faced protests at events in California and beyond. Critics say the group promotes extremist views; supporters argue they are exercising free speech rights increasingly under threat on liberal campuses
Videos from the incident at the UC Davis quad showed a group of masked protesters pulling down a TPUSA tent and shoving event organizers. UC Davis officials later said one demonstrator struck a bystander who was filming with a cellphone. It was not immediately clear whether Sodke appeared in the videos, which quickly went viral on social media.
The UC Davis incident in April gained traction online when Musk posted on X, the social media platform he owns: “The left is the party of violence & hate,” in response to footage of the scuffle. His post amassed over 10 million views within hours.
The Yolo County District Attorney’s Office formally charged Sodke with a criminal complaint filed Thursday, seven months after the campus protest took place.
No arrests were made in April, and campus police said the investigation remained ongoing. In a statement released after the incident, UC Davis officials affirmed the right to protest but condemned any acts of violence, noting it would review safety protocols. The campus event continued after the scuffle and ended without further incident.
In the filed complaint, another woman, Chloe Love Peterson, 22, is listed as a co-defendant with Sodke in the alleged conspiracy. Peterson faces the same criminal charges as Sodke.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Melinda Aiello, a spokesperson for the DA’s Office, said on Friday that Peterson had not yet been arrested.
The Yolo County case against Sodke and Peterson is the first to result in criminal charges related to the April UC Davis confrontation.
The DA’s complaint alleges that Sodke and Peterson, along with unknown co-conspirators, posted signs on campus with the time and location of the Turning Point campus event, along with slogans such as “BLOCK THE FASH”, “BLOCK THE TRASH” and “MASK UP, COME TOGETHER & BLOCK THE FASH TRASH.” The term “fash” is an abbreviated version of fascist.
The co-conspirators allegedly posted on Instagram encouraging people to come to the campus event, protect their identities with masks and bring an umbrella.
Prosecutors allege that Sodke and Peterson were among a group of people who confronted Turning Point USA representatives outside the event, and Sodke punched someone identified in the complaint as “B.B.” as unidentified co-conspirators took and destroyed items from event representatives.
Sodke graduated from UC Davis in June 2024 with a degree in history, according to previous Bee reporting. In a video captured by a Bee journalist, Sodke is seen boisterously entering the stage at Golden 1 Center to receiver her diploma from Chancellor Gary May while cheering on her fellow undergraduates that day.
The DA’s Office announced the charges against Sodke this week, days after another high-profile Turning Point USA event — this time at UC Berkeley — reignited debates over free speech and campus safety. Monday’s event marked the final stop of the “This is the Turning Point” tour, revived after Kirk’s assassination.
The day after the Berkeley event, U.S. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said federal authorities would investigate security practices at both UC Berkeley and within the city, citing “Antifa’s ability to operate with impunity in CA.”
The Bee’s Daniel Hunt contributed to this story.
This story was originally published November 14, 2025 at 3:25 PM.
