2017 Berkeley protests

The 2017 Berkeley protests refer to a series of protests occurred in the city of Berkeley, California in the vicinity of University of California, Berkeley. Violence has occurred predominately between anti-Trump protesters, some of whom were anarchists and other far-left radicals, and supporters of Donald Trump and the alt-right.

The first event occurred on February 1 when Milo Yiannopoulos was scheduled to give a speech. Two incidents, which occurred on March 4 and April 15, were pro-Trump rallies met with counter-protesters. Another rally occurred on April 27; hosted by Brittany Pettibone, Lauren Southern, and others at Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park. This was scheduled after a planned speech by Ann Coulter was cancelled.

On February 1, Milo Yiannopoulos was scheduled to make a speech at the University of California, Berkeley at 8:00 pm. Prior, more than 100 UC Berkeley faculty signed a petition urging the university to cancel the event.

Over 1,500 people gathered on the steps of Sproul Hall to protest the event. The university said in a statement that the protest had been non-violent until it was interrupted by a group of around 150 people who they believe came from outside of the campus. The interrupting protesters, some identifying themselves as members of BAMN, set fires, damaged property, threw fireworks, attacked members of the crowd, and threw rocks at the police. Within twenty minutes of the start of the violence, the Yiannopolous event was officially canceled by the university police department due to security concerns, and protesters were ordered to disperse. The protests continued for several hours afterwards, with some protesters moving into downtown Berkeley. Among those assaulted were a Syrian Muslim who was pepper sprayed and hit with a rod by a protester who said "You look like a Nazi", and a white woman who was pepper sprayed while being interviewed by a TV reporter. One person was arrested for failure to disperse, and there was an estimated $100,000 in damage.

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