Four arrested as far-right group rallies
Patriot Prayer followers march through city streets and the UC Berkeley campus
Amid heavy police presence, four people were arrested Tuesday afternoon as the leader of an “alt-right” group and dozens of supporters marched through city streets and the UC Berkeley campus despite the cancellation of Free Speech Week events that were planned by conservative students.
Shoving and yelling matches broke out among dozens of followers of the group Patriot Prayer and counterprotesters as about 100 police in riot gear broke up skirmishes shortly after 2 p.m. Three men and a woman were arrested.
Joey Gibson, the selfstyled leader of what he calls Patriot Prayer, which is based in Vancouver, Washington, said in a video Monday that his aim is to stop “disgusting things” and the “evil that exists in Berkeley. Trust me, it will be taken care of. We will destroy your narrative, you will never be able to stop us.”
But there seemed to be little substantive discussion or speeches as Gibson led a march to People’s Park, where he spoke briefly, saying that counterprotesters “lack intelligence. They come up and get in our face. We will continue to come into Berkeley until they finally respect free speech.”
Gibson is a vocal critic of the black-clad antifa counterprotesters who beat and maced him at a rally in Berkeley’s Civic Center Park last month.
Kyle Chapman, a selfproclaimed white nationalist from Daly City facing felony charges stemming from violent clashes here in April when he carried a leaded stick and allegedly struck counterprotesters, also spoke.
“There’s a war against whites,” Chapman said as police and homeless people looked on. “I have said that and I will say that again,” he added, calling the small, flag-waving crowd “brothers and sisters of God. You are the very fabric of what makes this country great.”
As the afternoon wore on, about three dozen protesters marched with Gibson back to Sproul Plaza where they began another series of impromptu speeches as students passed by, occasionally shouting profanities at the group and mocking it.
At one point, Chapman spoke to about three dozen members of the far-right when a passing student yelled out, “You beat people with a stick, Kyle.” Chapman yelled back, “It’s called self-defense.”
“I think they are just lost, they’re ignorant really to what’s going on in the world,” said Trevor Appel, a 19-year-old Cal sophomore majoring in political science.
Freshman political science major Holden Valentine of New York said of Chapman and the others: “All they see is white people, just white people. They have this whole victim complex. I don’t understand it.”
Gibson and others later walked through campus, stopping to do pushups, waving flags and taking a group selfie.
Berkeley police reported four arrests by 3:45 p.m.
Ricky Monzon, 20, of Las Vegas was arrested on suspicion of carrying a banned weapon; Yvonne Felarca, 47, of Oakland, a leader in the group By Any Means Necessary, was arrested on suspicion of battery and resisting arrest; Brandon Witte, 21, of Rocklin was arrested on suspicion of illegal possession of body armor and violating probation; and Eddy Robinson, 47, of Oakland was arrested on suspicion of participating in a riot and resisting arrest.