Q&A on the News

Q: The destructive demonstrators at UC Berkeley wore black masks and clothes. Were any of them apprehended by law enforcement officers? Who are they? —Karen Steanson, Decatur

A: During the Feb. 1 protest of conservative speaker Milo Yiannopoulos’ planned speech at UC Berkeley, one individual was arrested, according to the Los Angeles Times.

A 19-year-old man was arrested that night on suspicion of remaining “in the place of a riot,” UCPD spokeswoman Sgt. Sabrina Reich told the Daily Californian student newspaper.

Masked “black bloc” activists like those seen at UC Berkeley “tend to attach themselves to peaceful protests before breaking out to start shattering windows and vandalizing property,” the L.A. Times reported.

The “black bloc,” a tactic used by demonstrators to maintain anonymity, is “sometimes mistaken for an organization or a movement,” the Washington Post reported.

The black-masked protesters have been part of other recent demonstrations in California’s Bay Area, according to the L.A. Times.

Q: I read a recent Q&A about where British soldiers are buried and thought of a cemetery we saw on Ocracoke Island (N.C.) several years ago. I seem to remember a section where British soldiers were buried there. Could you look into it? —Marlene Fellows, Roswell

A: British sailors are buried on Ocracoke Island.

The bodies of four sailors washed ashore on the island after the HMS Bedfordshire was torpedoed by a German submarine in May 1942, according to the Ocracoke Civic and Business Association website.

A memorial service is held every May.