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Nnanji -> RE: Antifa attacks peaceful demonstration (8/28/2017 12:23:04 PM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: Danemora
Title of the article was "Violence by far-left protesters in Berkeley sparks alarm"
Ill copy/paste the body of the article:
"Thusands of demonstrators carrying signs with slogans like “Stand Against Hate” descended on Berkeley’s Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Park on Sunday for what many hoped would be a peaceful march against bigotry andPresident Trump.
But it was soon punctuated by tear gas and a scattering of violent skirmishes. Some anti-fascist protesters, wearing black and with their faces covered, chased or beat Trump supporters and organizers who had scheduled and then canceled the “anti-Marxist” rally, citing concerns over safety
Police, and in some cases other counter-protesters, stepped in to halt the violence or escort the victims away from the area. Officers reported 14 arrests, many of them for violations of the city’s emergency rules banning masks, sticks and potential weapons inside the demonstration area.
The clashes came despite widespread calls from activists and elected officials across the Bay Area for peaceful civil disobedience and underscore Berkeley’s growing reputation for violent reaction by the far left. Other protests earlier this year in the city turned ugly, with far-left and far-right forces fighting in the streets.
Some in Berkeley worried that Sunday’s chaos, captured on video and quickly disseminated through social media, would provide unwanted ammunition to Trump and his supporters.
“We can’t keep producing this audio-visual propaganda,” said Andrew Noruk, a counter-protester who denounced the fights. “It is recruiting for the right.”
The incidents came a day after a series of mostly peaceful activities in San Francisco, where demonstrators also marched in response to a planned far-right rally near the Golden Gate Bridge. Counter-protesters there boasted that they had shown that far-right groups, including neo-Nazis and white supremacists, were not welcome. Police reported one arrest, for public intoxication.
In Berkeley, the demonstration of more than 4,000 people pulled heavily from area labor unions, church groups and liberal activists — but also scores of young people clad in all black, some carrying shields and others with bandannas pulled over their faces.
Those activists are sometimes referred to as “antifa,” a name taken by anti-fascist organizations formed to oppose white nationalists. They are known for their “punch a Nazi” bent.
The counter-demonstrators were in the city to protest the “Say No to Marxism in America” rally, police said. Several who were expected to speak at the event have been linked to white nationalist sentiments or violence in the past.
Kyle Chapman, the far-right activist known as “Based Stickman” who gained fame for his role in previous Berkeley brawls, had been listed among speakers for the canceled event, but was not seen. On Friday, during a hearing on a pending felony weapons charge related to a prior rally, a judge ordered Chapman to stay away from Sunday’s demonstration.
Other planned attendees included Augustus Invictus, a Florida-based white supremacist who attended a torch-lit rally in Charlottesville, Va., according to the Anti-Defamation League. Invictus was not seen Sunday either.
One far-right figure who did show up was Johnny Benitez, the alias of an Orange County resident who organized an “America First” rally in Laguna Beach. Protesters got into shoving matches after he appeared, with some screaming “Go home, Nazi.”
Police tried to escort him and Irma Hinojosa, a member of the Southern California group Latinos for Trump, through the crowd and out of the park.
Before the day had ended, Benitez wrote on Twitter that anti-fascists should be designated as “terrorists.”
“If the federal government doesn’t move to expose these terrorists the patriots of this country need to prepare for war,” he tweeted.
Benitez was not the only right-wing activist hurried away from scene. Counter-protesters clad in black pounced when Joey Gibson, founder of the right-wing group Patriot Prayer, showed up in the park. Masked protesters began pepper spraying people and used their shields to hit people who appeared to be with Gibson.
Gibson, who was behind Saturday’s aborted rally in San Francisco, was handcuffed and escorted away by police. Assistant Chief Jim Libby of the California Highway Patrol’s Golden Gate Division later described the officers’ action as a “rescue.”
Anti-fascist protesters also beat one person wearing an American flag. Some threatened to break the cameras of anyone who filmed them, including journalists. Others set off purple smoke bombs.
One counter-protester, in tears, said she worried that Sunday’s event would be tied to violence. Another, who helped break up a fight, was upset over the altercations.
“We need to get antifa out of here,” said Jack Harris, 20, of San Francisco.
Joanna Mendelson, senior investigative researcher with the Anti-Defamation League, watched footage of Sunday’s confrontations and said she drew a “sharp comparison” between the two weekend events. San Francisco provided a proud example of “a community response to objectionable speech,” she said in an email to The Times.
“Today’s story should have only been about the voices of tolerance overpowering those marred by bigotry,” she said. “Instead, any violent response, even if perpetrated by a small number, undermines their entire effort to counter the narrative.”
Others strongly disputed the idea that anti-fascist marchers were initiating violence. Kitty Stryker, a member of counter-protesters known as Struggalo Circus, said she provided medical aid to someone who had been pepper sprayed by a far-right activist.
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~ End of article
Thanks for posting it. The article seems much more balanced and much more news, as opposed to op ed, than I've seen from LAT's. Could be the new publisher.
I hadn't seen that white racists were going to show up in San Francisco before this article. Shame that they would.
Edited to trim article already posted.
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