[Hieronymus]

If I understand the diagram correctly, the police were stationed in such a way that rather than separating the two demonstrations, the demonstrators were contained in such a way as to maximize contact. Declaring that those who had made it to the relative safety of the fenced in area needed to disperse through the exits where the counter-demnostrators were massed by design at a time shortly before the rally began seems to me the way to best maximize friction between the two groups. Human idiocy is great, but I have a hard time believing that idiocy alone can explain the layout and the timing.

[rlmorel]

That I can understand completely. I accept that it could be due to malicious intent or to an inability or incompetency (we do PAY those people to evaluate exactly these kinds of situations and effectively disarm them, don't we?) to discern the consequences of choosing a certain geometry.

I am curious as to WHY they declared it an unlawful assembly.