Whether they are described as “black bloc” or anarchists — the nomenclature isn’t important — the masked, black-clad protesters are criminals, not the vanguard of a righteous resistance to fascism. The Associated Press reported that groups of hooded, black-clad protesters kicked and punched at least four men until police or other counter-protesters intervened. In February, for example, 150 black-clad agitators caused $100,000 worth of damage when they smashed through the city protesting a planned UC Berkeley speech by right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos. The violent demonstrators hardly typified those who have turned out to protest white nationalism and other forms of intolerance in Berkeley and beyond. Yet some would rationalize or explain away violence of the kind engaged in by the masked protesters in Berkeley.

Source: Los Angeles Times August 29, 2017 11:00 UTC