and the Anti-Americans, cowards that they are, showed their true color yellow and failed to show up
Posted on 04/30/2017 12:59:46 PM PDT by nickcarraway
A substantial police presence both on the Berkeley campus and at a gathering in a downtown park kept hundreds of activists on both sides of the free-speech debate in line during protests Thursday.
Hundreds of far-right protesters, some dressed in goggles, gas masks and knee pads, rallied in support of conservative speaker Ann Coulter in Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park .
Some at the rally were wearing combat gear, including military grade ballistic helmets and body armor. Dozens of police in riot gear stood by ready to crack down on violence as had been anticipated between provocateurs of both the alt-right and antifa (anti-fascist).
Many of the pro-Coulter protesters have “Build That Wall” or “Trump” stickers across their helmets and several are concealing their identities wearing mirrored ski goggles over their eyes.
Over the course of the day, there was no sign of their antifa opponents, who have violently clashed with the far-right demonstrators previously in Berkeley.
By early evening, the protest in the park had dwindled to a couple dozen people on the two sides, squaring off in their debate over free speech.
Officers came out in droves, lining every inch of Berkeley’s sidewalks, batons and zip-tie handcuffs at the ready. Backpacks of people going onto the UC Berkeley campus were searched, weapons confiscated.
“I’m a student here this is not what we’re used to at all,” said UC student Nick Garcia. “This is completely militarized. Some students have been arrested and they haven’t committed any crimes”
While some students complained about this show of force, that’s what critics say was missing during previous protests.
Howard Jordan, the former Oakland Police Chief who now provides law enforcement analysis for KPIX 5 said enforcement of protests like presented unusual challenges.
“Police have a very tough job of balancing first amendment rights of everyone,” said Jordan. “These things are fluid. They’re rapidly evolving police have to be ready for whatever contingency comes up”
Jordan said given the number of officers on hand and the advanced notice for Thursday’s protests police would likely be able to keep Berkeley in control.
“Calling in additional help can take hours, but if you know in advance those hours are reduced to 30 minutes or less,” said Jordan.
While there were some tense moments and a few arrests, no violence broke out.
Police said they arrested four people at demonstrations on and near the campus related to the canceled Coulter speech.
Another morning rally had been relatively peaceful, but the strong police presence grew as the number of demonstrators swelled in Berkeley’s Civic Center Park in anticipation of the afternoon rally hosted by the alt-right “Proud Boys” and the Oath Takers.
“No one’s saying that anyone should not be proud of their culture or who they are,” said Proud Boy Chad Lanyon. “We are just reacting to what we feel is push back against our values.”
Two people were arrested on the Berkeley campus. Campus police said one person had been arrested for carrying a knife and a second had been taken into custody for wearing a mask and confronting an officer.
Among those gathered in the Civic Center Park was Chris Cox, the leader of a group called Bikers For Trump, who flew in from Washington, D.C. to attend the rallies. He said his group was not there to repeat the violence of past demonstrations, but to keep the peace and let people know that Trump supporters also support free speech.
“It just takes one radical voice to take a whole group so I needed to make sure we don’t have anybody out here that is being a fool,” he told KPIX 5.
“If indeed this is the birthplace of free speech,” he continued. “And they (UC and Berkeley officials) have made it nearly impossible for Miss (Ann) Coulter to come here to speak. To me, that would demonstrate that free speech has died.”
But a member of the Oath Takers — who were part of the unruly crowd at the April 15th rally — said they would step in if police did not do their job during the afternoon rally.
“We hope the police will stand up (to the anti-fascist protesters) and that we will have a chill day in the park,” an Oath Taker told KPIX 5. “But if they don’t stand up, we will.”
Dozens of police wearing flak jackets and carrying 40 mm launchers that shoot “foam batons” flanked the university’s main plaza while a small group of protesters condemning Coulter staged one of two earlier rallies outside campus. Officers also took selfies with students in an attempt to lighten the mood.
Police erected barricades and refused to let participants enter the campus.
Protesters from the International Socialist Organization held what they called n “Alt Right Delete” rally with signs reading “Refuse Fascism” and “Fascist free campus.” The group endorses free speech, and some members oppose the way Coulter and others have co-opted the free speech movement.
“I don’t like Ann Coulter’s views, but I don’t think in this case the right move was to shut her down,” said graduate student Yevgeniy Melguy, 24, who held a sign that read “Immigrants Are Welcome Here.”
The tension illustrates how Berkeley has emerged as a flashpoint for extreme left and right forces amid the debate over free speech in a place where the 1960s U.S. free speech movement began before it spread to college campuses across the nation.
Berkeley student Joseph Pagadara, 19, said he is worried about violence and says the university is caught in the middle of the country’s political divide.
“Both sides are so intolerant of each other. We are a divided country. We need to listen to each other but we’re each caught in our own bubbles,” he said.
Dozens of California Highway Patrol officers from around the state deployed on the UC Berkeley campus Thursday morning. Helicopter video showed dozens of motorcycle officers and patrol cars parked and a staging area set-up near the Greek Theater on campus.
Campus police also posted signs saying anyone near the Sproul Plaza on campus would be subjected to a security search and listing items that were banned from the University property.
While the list contained the obvious weapons – guns, ice picks, daggers and stun guns – it also included items like frozen fruit, pet dogs, coolers, umbrellas, e-cigarettes, laser pointers, skateboards, bikes and balloons.
A joint statement released by the university and Berkeley city leaders early Thursday promised less restraint than shown at two other demonstrations that have exploded in violence.
“While we cherish our freedoms of speech and assembly, there is no freedom to silence others or to commit violence,” the statement read. “If you are at a demonstration and you see violence, separate yourself. Keep a distance from violence. If you can do so safely, report it to police.”
At a Wednesday news conference, UC Police Capt. Alex Yao said his officers and those called in from neighboring law enforcement agencies to help would “have a very, very low tolerance for any violence.”
While an on-campus speech by conservative pundit Ann Coulter scheduled for Thursday had been canceled over fears of violent protests, the far right and far left political camps were not backing off – as was Coulter, who hinted she may show up anyway.
“I’m not speaking. But I’m going to be near there, so I might swing by to say hello to my supporters who have flown in from all around the country,” Coulter said in an email to the Associated Press. “I thought I might stroll around the graveyard of the First Amendment.”
Gavin McInnes, founder of the pro-Trump “Proud Boys,” said he would fly to Berkeley to speak Thursday and was encouraging other alt-right forces to make a large appearance at the gathering, scheduled for 2:00 p.m. at Civic Center Park.
In a YouTube video, McInnes challenged the so-called anti-fascist groups, “… our army will be a bigger audience than most of these liberals get when they do talks. So you f***’ed up. Once again, you have created this mythical universe of Nazis on every corner and you’ve tried to shut it down based on that lie. Well, we’re not allowing that to happen. The show must go on.”
The Proud Boys call themselves Western chauvinists who “refuse to apologize for creating the modern world.” They flooded Berkeley in huge numbers earlier this month and appear to be amassing a return visit from such characters as the “Based Stickman” and others who have made their name with violent responses to the antifa (anti-fascist) anarchists.
Just two weeks ago, a “Patriots’ Day” protest exploded into violence that ended with 20 arrests and 11 injuries. More arrests were expected as police continue reviewing videos and photos taken of the violence.
“He said his group was not there to repeat the violence of past demonstrations. . .”
Implying strongly that the conservative group had instigated the violence.
They mention the ski masks of the conservatives, but they neglect to mention that in prior demonstrations the liberals had employed pepper spray. If I were going, I’d wear my ski mask and I wouldn’t bother to go buy one without a sunscreen just to satisfy these liberal reporters. They’d just find some other way to smear the conservatives.
‘This time they felt they had to protect the terrorists.’
Exactly. I watched one of the Battle of Berkeley videos last night. It was about one minute of AntiFa getting the snot beat out of them, and about five minutes of AntiFa retreating as if their lives depended on it. The rout was total.
I read an AntiFa post mortem of the event online. One of them suggested they might need to up their fighting skills. Another quickly shot that down. She said upper body strength had a direct correlation to rightwing views. So they are pretty much doomed.
The Alt-righters would have administered a much more severe beating if AntiFa hadn’t done such a fine job of making themselves scarce. Perhaps the police weren’t as confident that they’d escape unscathed in the next face-off, which explains the heavy cop presence.
Stray dogs are ok.
Later
They are not ‘caught in the middle between two polarized views.’ The middle is where the police belong - in between the Antifa anarchists and the peaceful citizens.
Didn’t mention that the reason the Trump supporters wore helmets is because the anarchists caused chaos and the police did nothing.
“Calling in additional help can take hours, but if you know in advance those hours are reduced to 30 minutes or less,” said Jordan.
Response time should be reduced to “Aim...FIRE!”
Without security guarantees I don't fault Ann Coulter for not showing after the University cancelled her speech, but it does represent a passing of the torch so to speak to a younger generation of activists on the right.
“”alt-right””
How the heck did this “alt” business get started? Doesn’t just plain “right” or “left” get the job done? Googling shows it’s been around since the 90’s so why haven’t we been hearing it since then? It’s really getting tiresome. We don’t need “cutsie” terms for leftists or conservatives. Anyone paying attention knows what “far left” and “far right” mean. If they don’t, they are part of the problem anyway so the heck with them.
You may be a “fantasy writer” but would you please break down your post in understandable English - leave out the cutesy terms of AntiFa and Alt righters...We would get the point of the post if you just used “right”, “anti fascist” etc. We know what protesters and anti protesters are..
and the Anti-Americans, cowards that they are, showed their true color yellow and failed to show up
I use the most appropriate terms. The various Battles of Berkeley have taken place between the Soros-funded, black masked group that calls itself AntiFa [Anti-fascist—though in fact they use fascist tactics] and the Alt-right.
The Alt-right is a specific group, and they don’t correspond to the right or to conservatives. A tiny fraction of the Alt-right is White supremacist. The vast majority of Alt-righters are not. They hold a majority of conservative views, but with some crucial differences. Namely, the Alt-right is strongly pro-gay and pro-homosexual marriage. They won’t compromise on that, so they can never simply be called the Right, or accuratelyQ, conservatives.
There other big difference is a high energy drive to fight back. That’s why it was the Alt-right that showed up in Berkeley to challenge AntiFa, rather than mainstream conservatives. The Alt-right are scrappers. They never heard of turning the other cheek, and the idea of being attacked without fighting back is abhorrent to them. They relish a good fight, and consistently give better than they get. They’re tough. [They have to be. They survive on university campuses infested with very aggressive moonbats. If the Alt-righters weren’t tough, they wouldn’t make it.]
Hope this helps. The new generation of ‘conservatives,’ is not like prior generations. That’s why only a new term can properly describe them.
Too déclassé for soap box conservatives.
There = Their
You got that right!
Gee, if I just landed here from Mars, reading this piece, I would swear those alt-rights were the bad guys, and the antifas, and those of their ilk, were all choir boys. What a load! The sad thing is, there are folks who will only hear this fake, warped story, and believe it’s true.
If we have to go through all those machinations to determine just who is who in this country today, we may as well forget trying to understand what’s going on.
The right thinks the left are fascists; the left thinks the right are fascists so AntiFa has no meaning. If one can’t listen to the news or read about events without stopping to wonder just who on earth is being written about, it’s time to drop the APPROPRIATE terms.
Hannity on Friday night was referring to “Alt right extremists” or whatever. I had had it by then and wondered why on earth he had to use that term. They all use it as if everyone already knows what it means. It came from out of left field and we have to live with it, I guess.
I appreciate your effort but it doesn’t help at all but I thank you.
You’re very welcome. We really can’t get away from this new term because there’s no old/common term that describes this demographic. You have this very large, dynamic group/movement that is radically opposed to the Left/modern liberalism. They are extremely patriotic, extremely nationalistic, pro-life, *extremely* pro-2A, extremely anti-welfare state, etc. Iow, they passionately embrace many conservative positions.
Otoh, they are just as passionate about embracing gay rights/gay marriage. That means you can’t simply label them the Right, or Conservative. They radically break with the traditional Right on this issue.
There are some other quirks about the Alt-right too, but none that rise to the level of their absolute embrace of the LGBT community. That’s the one that invalidates referring to them via traditional terms.
The world, and the political landscape, change. In order to remain effective and utilitarian, our language must change accordingly.
[Hannity may have been referring to that small sliver of Alt-righters who brazenly identify as white supremacists. They certainly qualify as extreme.]
Old line right wing/conservative media guys had best pivot quickly. Their platforms can be stripped from them by something as transparent as astro-turfing advertisers. Rush proves the rule. Ossifying figures like Hannity and O'Reilly need to surround themselves with young hungry types who aren't afraid to go out and face groups like the Antifa feces flingers. Not holding out hope.
What's your guess as to whether Cernovich and Fairbanks get in to the press briefing today.
Cernovich had indicated that his being in the WH press briefing today was a done deal. If that’s rescinded over brazenly Fake News/a leftist smear, the WH will have a black eye the size of Manhattan.
I don’t have a prognostication about how it will ultimately play out. I only note that it will tell us a lot about this WH either way.
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