The Berkeley 13: Why Did It Happen?

Thirteen people were arrested, 11 for banned items and two for felony assault, according to Berkeley police, during the violence on Sunday.

As I pointed out, things were a lot less violent in San Franciso the day before.

NBC News now confirms my take:

There was a considerable contrast between free speech rallies on both sides of the bay over the weekend, raising questions about whether the brief spurts of violence in Berkeley could have been prevented.

Thousands of protesters marched safely in the streets of San Francisco on Saturday, but on Sunday at Civic Center Park in Berkeley, what started peacefully broke into violent clashes between "alt-right" and anti-fascist groups...

And here's NBC News confirming that the police stood down:

Sunday’s event turned out to be rather one-sided, with a dwindling number of "alt-right" ralliers and many Antifa demonstrators armed and seemingly ready for action.

"When there weren’t conservative protesters that they wanted to fight, they wanted to fight the police," Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin said. "So I think the police made the right decision to pull back, so that they didn’t get hurt and other people didn’t get hurt, to de-escalate the situation."

At least 500 police officers from various agencies were posted around the park Sunday. When the wave of masked Antifa protesters showed up, they were allowed to enter despite their brazen violation of rules. 

"Their strategic plan was to bar anybody with weapons. They didn’t say how many they were going to bar; it says nobody gets in with weapons," said Tony Ribera, former San Francisco police chief, referring to Berkeley police rules in advance of the rally. "And yet, they let people in with weapons?"

Now the question becomes: What will happen when Coulter and Milo come to town?

  -RW