An Antifa member arrested Thursday night for carrying a deadly weapon at the Berkeley protest had met with Hillary Clinton prior to the event.
Berkeley police made a few arrests Thursday night. Of the two women arrested, Sarah Roark, 44, of San Francisco, was arrested for carrying a banned weapon near Bancroft Way and Bowditch St.
https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/908770848487682049
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Roark had bragged on Facebook about going to the Ben Shapiro event in Berkeley to protest hours before she was arrested.
https://www.facebook.com/sarah.roark.969/posts/10155702854084184
Berkeley Police posted the mugshot of Sarah Roark shortly after her arrest for carrying a deadly weapon to the Ben Shapiro event.
Sarah Roark, 44, of San Francisco, was arrested for carrying a banned weapon near Bancroft Way and Bowditch St. #BenAtBerkeley pic.twitter.com/QpsK5cItbm
— Berkeley Police (@berkeleypolice) September 15, 2017
Foxnews.com reports: UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof said the security measures could cost $600,000. Mogulof called the speech “a successful event” and said the university was committed to hosting speakers like Shapiro in the future.
Police have now made three arrests for people carrying weapons banned within this zone. For details on the ban –> https://t.co/veFbDZ2hm1 pic.twitter.com/7e9tzSRTnk
— Berkeley Police (@berkeleypolice) September 15, 2017
The evening did have its share of hiccups. Police said three arrests were weapons-related. Among them:
— Hannah Benjamin, 20, was arrested for battery on a police officer and carrying a banned weapon.
— Sarah Roark, 44, was taken into custody for carrying a banned weapon.
The arrests were announced on the police Twitter account.
Free speech isn't free. It costs over $600,000 thanks to Antifa.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) September 14, 2017
The demonstrators, however, were largely peaceful. Some chanted against fascism, white supremacists and President Donald Trump. Others were holed up inside a student building, waving signs protesting the university’s decision to allow Shapiro on campus.
Well done, @UCPD_Cal and @berkeleypolice! Thank you for restoring order and ensuring the exercise of free speech!
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) September 15, 2017
Inside the hall, Shapiro addressed a friendly crowd. He encouraged people to hold civil discussions with people who have different opinions, saying that’s what America is all about. He condemned white supremacists as “a very small select group of absolutely terrible people who believe absolutely terrible things.”
The campus and surrounding Berkeley streets were under tight security after a series of previous events turned violent.
City and campus officials anticipated protests against Shapiro, and prepared for possible violence with a variety of new strategies and tightened security. It was not immediately clear whether the people arrested Thursday were protesters.
The Berkeley College Republicans invited right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos to speak last February, but the event was abruptly canceled when masked left-wing anarchists rioted outside the event to shut it down.
A planned speech by author Ann Coulter was canceled in April.
Police with riot gear surrounded the plaza outside Zellerbach Hall, where Shapiro spoke.
For the first time in two decades, officers were armed with pepper spray after the city council modified a 1997 ban at an emergency meeting this week.
“We have seen extremists on the left and right in our city,” said Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin, a Democrat who backed the police request to use pepper spray. “We need to make sure violence is not allowed.”
