Berkeley Mayor
Wants ‘Free Speech Week’ Canceled; Trump Supporters ‘Wanted to Get Beat Up’ by
Antifa
by Joel B. Pollak 29 Aug 2017
Left-wing
activists are scrambling to excuse the violence carried out by Antifa activists
at Sunday’s counter-protest in Berkeley, California,
in which five conservative demonstrators were injured and 13 attackers were
arrested.
“It almost seems like [Trump supporters] wanted to get
beat up,” said civil rights lawyer Dan Siegel,
according
to the
East Bay Times. Siegel praised the actions of the
Berkeley Police Department, which
allowed Antifa to
jump the barricades and attack the few right-wing protesters who had gathered
after a “No to Marxism” rally was canceled for fear of violence. There were
about 400 police, and about 100 Antifa activists. Police later
claimed their actions were necessary to prevent greater violence in a
confrontation with Antifa. The
San Jose Mercury News quoted Berkeley police chief Andrew Greenwood as saying
there was “no need for a confrontation over a grass patch.”
Berkeley mayor Jesse Arreguin is now
calling
on the
University
of California Berkeley to cancel “Free Speech Week,” an event
planned for late September in which a conservative campus group called Berkeley
Patriot is inviting controversial speakers, including former Breitbart News
tech editor Milo Yiannopoulos, to speak.
Aragon blamed conservative speakers for
provoking the Antifa violence aimed at shutting down their events: “I’m very
concerned about Milo Yiannopoulos and Ann Coulter and some of these other
right-wing speakers coming to the Berkeley campus, because it’s just a target
for black bloc to come out and commit mayhem on the Berkeley campus and have
that potentially spill out on the street,” he
said,
according to the
San Francisco Chronicle.
Berkeley was the birthplace of the Free Speech Movement
in 1964, where students fought for, and won, the right to express any political
views they wanted on campus. Conservatives have challenged the famously
left-wing campus to live up to that legacy.
Arreguin defended the police for allowing Antifa to
jump the barricades Sunday, saying “the actions taken by the police were
necessary to deescalate and prevent further violence from taking place.”
The
East Bay Times adds that organizers of
the counter-demonstration stressed that the vast majority of the several
thousand participants in their march on Sunday were peaceful. Journalist Al
Letson, who risked his own safety to save a man from a beating by 20 Antifa
activists, defended them: “I think, in retrospect, they may not have
wanted to injure him, but at the time, everything just happened so quickly,” he
told
Southern California
Public Radio.
Let’s connect the dots:
University of California Berkeley
Stephen M.
Silberstein was a benefactor for the
University
of California, Berkeley, a funder for the
Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, a contributor for
the
American Bridge 21st Century,
and a contributor for the
Majority PAC.
Note:
Open
Society Foundations was a funder for the
Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, and the
American Constitution Society.
George
Soros is the founder & chairman for the
Open Society Foundations,
Jonathan
Soros’s father, was a contributor for the
American Bridge 21st Century, a contributor for the
Majority PAC, and the chairman for the
Foundation
to Promote Open Society.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the
Common Cause, the
Brookings Institution (think tank), the
International Rescue Committee, and
the
New America Foundation.
Christopher
Edley Jr. is a board of adviser’s member for the
American Constitution Society, was a governing board member for the
Common Cause, and a law school dean
for the
University of California,
Berkeley.
Richard C. Blum
is a regent at the
University of
California, a board member at the
Haas
School of Business, an honorary trustee at the
Brookings Institution (think
tank), married to
California Senator
Dianne Feinstein, and was a funder for the
Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation.
William J. Clinton
is the founder of the
Bill, Hillary
& Chelsea Clinton Foundation, was an adviser for the
Yucaipa Companies, and
Strobe Talbott was his roommate at
Oxford.
Jeffrey M.
Johnson was an operating partner for the
Yucaipa Companies, and is the publisher for the
San Francisco Chronicle.
Strobe Talbott
was
William J. Clinton’s roommate at
Oxford, an editor for
Time magazine, and is the president of
the
Brookings Institution (think tank).
Andrew S. Grove was
the 1997 person of the year at
Time
magazine, a benefactor for the
University
of California, Berkeley, and an overseer at the
International Rescue Committee.
David H. Romer
is a professor at the
University of
California, Berkeley, and was a senior fellow at the
Brookings
Institution (think tank).
Michael R. Bloomberg
was an advocate for the
ONE Campaign,
is the founder of
Everytown for Gun
Safety, the founder of the
Bloomberg
Family Foundation, and the founder for
Bloomberg
LP.
Michael A. Nutter
is an advisory board member for
Everytown
for Gun Safety, and a member of the
Homeland
Security Advisory Council.
Annise Parker is
an advisory board member for
Everytown
for Gun Safety, and a member of the
Homeland
Security Advisory Council.
Kenneth
Canterbury is a member of the
Homeland
Security Advisory Council, and the president of the
Fraternal Order of Police.
Manny
Diaz was a member of the
Homeland
Security Advisory Council, and is a director at the
Bloomberg Family Foundation.
Al
Hunt is a columnist for
Bloomberg
News, and married to
Judy Woodruff.
Judy Woodruff is
married to
Al Hunt, and a director
for
Public Radio International.
Michael Lewis is
a columnist for the
Bloomberg News,
and a visiting fellow at the
University
of California, Berkeley.
Hal
Varian was a professor at the
University
of California, Berkeley, and a chief economist for
Google Inc.
Google
Schmidt as Executive Chairman of Google speaking with Nik Gowing.
Eric E. Schmidt was an Executive
Chairman for
Google Inc., a member
of the
President's Council of Advisors
on Science and Technology, is the chairman emeritus for the
New America Foundation, and a 2008
Bilderberg
conference participant (think tank).
Susan L. Graham
was a member of the
President's Council
of Advisors on Science and Technology, and is a professor at the
University of California, Berkeley.
Jonathan Soros is
a director at the
New America Foundation,
and
George Soros’s son.
Fareed Zakaria is
a director at the
New America Foundation,
and was an editor-at-large for
Time
magazine.
Andrew S. Grove was
the 1997 person of the year at
Time
magazine, a benefactor for the
University
of California, Berkeley, and an overseer at the
International Rescue Committee.
Michael Lewis is
a columnist for the
Bloomberg News,
and a visiting fellow at the
University
of California, Berkeley.
David H. Romer
is a professor at the
University of
California, Berkeley, and was a senior fellow at the
Brookings
Institution (think tank).
Lee H. Hamilton is
an honorary trustee at the
Brookings Institution (think tank), and a
member of the
Homeland Security Advisory
Council.
Kenneth
Canterbury is a member of the
Homeland
Security Advisory Council, and the president of the
Fraternal Order of Police.
Manny
Diaz was a member of the
Homeland
Security Advisory Council, and is a director at the
Bloomberg Family Foundation.
Michael A. Nutter
is a member of the
Homeland Security
Advisory Council, and an advisory board member for
Everytown for Gun Safety.
Annise Parker is
a member of the
Homeland Security
Advisory Council, and an advisory board member for
Everytown for Gun Safety.
Michael R.
Bloomberg is the founder of
Everytown
for Gun Safety, the founder of the
Bloomberg
Family Foundation, the founder for
Bloomberg
LP, and was an advocate for the
ONE
Campaign.
Michael Lewis is
a columnist for the
Bloomberg News,
and a visiting fellow at the
University
of California, Berkeley.
Andrew S. Grove was
an overseer at the
International Rescue
Committee, the 1997 person of the year at
Time magazine, and a benefactor for the
University of California, Berkeley.
