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Gone are the Days

After melees, Berkeley mayor asks Cal to cancel right-wing Free Speech Week

In the aftermath of a right-wing rally Sunday that ended with anarchists chasing attendees from a downtown park, Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin urged UC Berkeley on Monday to cancel conservatives’ plans for a Free Speech Week next month to avoid making the city the center of more violent unrest.

“I don’t want Berkeley being used as a punching bag,” said Arreguin, whose city has been the site of several showdowns this year between, on the one hand, the left and its fringe anarchist wing, and on the other, supporters of President Trump who at times have included white nationalists.

“I am concerned about these groups using large protests to create mayhem,” Arreguin said. “It’s something we have seen in Oakland and in Berkeley.”...

Full story at http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Berkeley-mayor-asks-Cal-to-cancel-12104330.php

Also, from the LA Times: Editorial: Violent demonstrators in Berkeley are thugs, not activists
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-berkeley-violence-20170829-story.html

and:

...Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin said Monday that it’s time to call out groups like the masked anarchists known as black bloc. “I think we should classify them as a gang,” Arreguin said. “They have weapons — almost like a militia — and I think we need to think about that in terms of our law enforcement approach.” ...

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Lessons-learned-from-Sunday-s-clash-of-12112386.php

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Note: Unrelated item - in case you missed it:
UC Berkeley’s chief lawyer killed by hit-run driver in North Bay
http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/UC-Berkeley-s-chief-lawyer-killed-by-hit-run-12080610.php