BERKELEY — Counter-protesters are peacefully amassing in Berkeley to oppose a far-right anti-communist rally scheduled for Sunday afternoon, a day after police deployed flash-bang grenades and other measures to break up similar protests in Portland, Oregon.
About 200 counter-protesters had gathered at Ohlone Park by 11:30 a.m., half an hour before the rally was set to start.
About half a dozen far-right demonstrators had shown up, arriving a few blocks away at Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park.
“I am here because we have to have a counter protest to the far-right fascists,” said 64-year-old retiree Luma Nichol, a member of the Freedom Socialist Party. “It is important we outnumber them. Hitler himself said he could have been stopped when he only had small groups of supporters.”
Berkeley Police have arrested three people, according to the department’s Twitter page. Jason Wallach, 49, of Oakland; Kate Brenner, 69, of Oakland; and Kristin Edith Koster, 50, of Berkeley, were arrested near Ohlone Park on suspicion of possessing banned or dangerous weapons.
Jason Wallach, 49, of Oakland, was arrested near Ohlone Park for possession of a banned weapon. pic.twitter.com/5l0e32jsKY
— Berkeley Police (@berkeleypolice) August 5, 2018
Berkeley officials have prohibited weapons, masks, other face coverings, and signs attached to sticks or poles in and around Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park in an attempt to limit violence. So far, most protesters seem to be adhering to the rules. Nevertheless, several dozen Alameda County Sheriff’s Office deputies and Berkeley Police officers are on the scene, wearing riot gear, in case violence breaks out.
One group of counter-protesters showed up wearing red T-shirts identifying them as members of the Democratic Socialists of America, and carrying small signs that said, “Always anti-fascist.”
Another group used the rally to protest the Trump administration’s immigration policy, carrying signs that said, “No human being is illegal.”
Others wore “Black Lives Matter” T-shirts. One woman walked up to a group of Alameda County Sheriff’s Office deputies carrying a sign that said, “Cops and Klan go hand in hand,” stared at the deputies, and then walked away.
Counter protesters warming up in #Berkeley pic.twitter.com/zYi68RPnov
— Thomas Peele (@thomas_peele) August 5, 2018
Protests here early last year after the election of President Donald Trump turned bloody, but the alt-right’s last attempt at a rally a year ago largely fizzled as hundreds of anti-fascist demonstrators, known as antifa, flooded the area.
In Portland Saturday, small scuffles broke out between members of alt-right groups, such as the Patriot Prayer and the Proud Boys, and antifa.
The Oregonian reported that police in riot gear fired dozens of flash-bang grenades Saturday at counter-protesters who were throwing objects at police and had refused to disperse.
Amber Fuller, the organizer of Sunday’s planned “No To Marxism in Berkeley” rally, said Saturday on social media that it will go on as planned. It is scheduled for noon at MLK park.
Antifa members tweeted that they would begin staging around 11 a.m.
Berkeley became a target of the alt-right shortly after Trump’s 2016 election victory. Its members began protesting at Cal, calling the university a center for liberal indoctrination. They have also made claims that the city is a hotbed of new communism, and several times have stormed a small bookstore, Revolution Books, that sells left-wing literature.
Patriot Prayer leader Joey Gibson has said he won’t attend Sunday. Gibson is a fringe Republican candidate in Tuesday’s open Washington U.S. Senate primary.
At least one other alt-right group, from Arizona, also pulled out of the Berkeley event.
Gibson previously cancelled what he had claimed was going to be a large alt-right event at Crissy Field in San Francisco, claiming police could not keep his followers safe.
Gibson concentrated on Portland this year. He moved the Portland rally Saturday to the city’s waterfront, where Oregon residents could carry concealed weapons. His previous rallies had been held in a federal park where weapons are banned.
A streaming Facebook Live video Saturday morning showed Patriot Prayer members headed for Portland by bus with at least one assault rifle.
Check back for updates throughout the day on this developing story.