Here are our photos from the most recent #Anti-Fascism protest that took place on Sunday, August 5, 2018 in the city of Berkeley California
The city of #Berkeley was the center of national attention in 2017 when numerous altercations between #DonaldTrump supporters and Anti-Donald Trump supporters turned violent. As most of you know, our website covered the entire “Free Speech 2017” dust-ups from the very beginning in 2017.
For the most part, both sides of the Donald Trump/Fascism/Antifa debate have been fairly quiet in the Bay Area, with no major incidents in 2018. However, this changed last month when Alt-Right conservatives announced their intentions to hold another “Free Speech” rally in the downtown Berkeley area.
As expected, Alt-Right protestors quickly organized a “Stop The Hate” rally to take place the same time as the planned Alt-Right rally with hopes of disrupting the planned Alt-Right rally.
Much to the chagrin of the city of Berkeley, although both sides announced their intentions to organize at the park, neither side had filed the proper permitting paperwork. As a matter of fact, numerous Alt-Right organizers quickly dropped out of the planned rally due to safety concerns. Yet, despite the fact of almost all of the Alt-Right organizers dropping out of the planned Alt-Right rally, the city of Berkeley prepared for the worst with barricades and strict rules governing the movement of crowds being imposed virtually over the entire downtown area. The city also brought in the services of the Alameda County Sheriffs’ Office, Oakland Police, Hayward Police, and California Highway Patrol to help control the crowd.
About 1000 counter-protestors to the Alt-Right showed up Sunday morning in downtown Berkeley and marched to Civic Center Park to “sweep out the fascists.”
Unlike previous encounters, the meeting of the two groups did not devolve into chaos or bloodshed-most likely due to the fact that the most violent elements of the Alt-Right movement decided not to attend the Berkeley event. (There were rumors circulating that California Alt-Right movement had actually fractured and was splintering from a lack of cohesive leadership).
The majority of the day was peaceful. However, there were numerous scuffles between the Anti-fascism group Antifa and local law enforcement as law enforcement officers prevented the group from entering the park.
At one point, frustrated with the group, Berkeley police fired tear gas and over 20 rubber bullets at protestors to disperse crowd. In response, protestors set numerous trashcans on fire.
Strangely, about 10 minutes after the altercation with the police, city officials allowed Antifa and the rest of the Alt-Right protestors into Civic Center Park without incident.
Police stated they made about 20 arrests for various violations.
Oakpv.org 2018
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