A pro-free speech march in Berkeley today was attacked by masked anti-free speech thugs. Some of the hard men among the marchers struck back, with some wearing masks themselves to duke it out with the anti-fa vigilantes. Not surprisingly, the rightists appeared to get the best of the ensuing donnybrook with the leftists.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions should come down hard on the mayor of Berkeley and the governor of California for not ordering law enforcement to protect the rights of peaceful protesters from assault. A pattern of official tolerance of illegal violence against citizens has emerged in Northern California going back to the assault on the Trump rally in San Jose last year, with very few arrests of members of semi-organized mobs of masked blackshirts.

Many states have laws against using a mask to get away with intimidation and/or breaking the law. The Justice Department should demand that all relevant laws be enforced to protect freedom of expression from violence.

[Comment at Unz.com]