What happened in Berkeley?
There was a demonstration (the sides disagree on the nature of the demonstration, with some claiming that it was to promote free speech and some claiming that it was to promote fascism). The Black Bloc showed up and a huge melee ensued. While fists were flying, the police just stood by and watched.
Seems like there were a few arrests that happened in fact. And there was no property damage reported either.
And considering the tear-gassing and looting back in 2014, kinda hard not to see why they decided to under-react.
It started in a park and only spread onto Shattuck Ave near the end of the skirmish, so the lack of property damage is to be expected. The underreaction may be understandable, but that should not make us tolerate it. I tried to explain it in as evenhanded a fashion as possible when the information was requested, but it remains that a masked mob tried to shut down a legal demonstration.
Considering the City Hall, the High School, a homeless shelter, the Post Office, all the other odds and ends of downtown appear well before Shattuck Ave, um yeah, property damage IS something that could've happened.
Also, when the alternative reaction is to recreate the catastrophic response by St. Ronnie in which people with NOTHING to do with the demonstration but in the crossfire are getting arbitrarily arrested, tear-gassed, pepper-sprayed, and rounded up to correctional facilities, then yeah, and under-reaction IS preferable.
Should it be either/or? Of course not. But more and more this seems to be the dichotomy.
