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WEBVTT ERKELEY AS PROTESTS TURNEDVIOLENT.VICKI:rt THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEENPOLICE AND DEMONSTRATORS TODAYCOULD BE DESCRIBED AS INTENSE.AT TIMES UNRAVELING INTOVIOLENCE AND IN SOME INSTANCESPRODUCING ARRESTS.rtEACH CORNER OF BERKELEY CIVICCENTER PLAZA CAPTURING THEESCALATION OF PASSIONATEFRUSTRATION.rtPOLICE FANNING OUT ACROSS CITYBLOCKS.SURVEILLANCE FROM THE SKY.rtOFFICERS EVEN IN HARD TO REACHPLACES.IN ALL, SEVERAL HUNDRED INUNIFORM FROM SURROUNDINGrtAGENCIES AS DEMONSTRATIONSESCALATE.AT TIMES, PROTESTERS INTErtNSELYAT ODDS WITH JOURNALISTS,CREATING A HUMAN SHIELD TOPREVENT SOME PEOPLE FROMDOCUMENTING.rtPROTESTERS SHOW THEY ARE GOINGTO DO WHAT THEY WANT, AND IFNECESSARY, BREAK THE RULES.WHEN OF THE BIGGEST MOMENTPOLICE WERE ATrt ODDS WITHDEMONSTRATORS WAS A BARRICADE INFRONT OF CIVIC CENTER PLAZA.HUNDREDS OF DEMONSTRATORSWANTING TO OVERTAKE THEBARRICADE BUT POLICE INrt RIOTGEAR INVENTED THEM FROM DOINGSO.BUT AFTER A LENGTHY STANDOFF THEPOLICE WITHDREW, ArtLLOWINGDEMONSTRATORS TO OVERTAKE THEBARRICADE.THE TYPE OF SITUATION WHERE YOUCAN LOOK IN ANY DIRECTION ANDWITNESSrt POLITICAL VIEWS THROUGHAGGRESSIVE ACTION.WHILE POLICE HERE TEND TO THESITUATION HERE IN RIOT GEAR,OTHER OFFICERS DOWN THErt STREETARE RESPONDING TO VARIOUSSITUATIONS INVOLVINGDEMONSTRATORS CHASING OUTMEMBERS THEY BELIEVE ARE FROMTHE FAR RIGHT MOVEMENT.rtIN ONE INSTANCE ONE MAN WASCHASED ALL THE WAY DOWN THESTREET TO A GAS STATION, DOZENSOF PEOPLE SURROUNDING HIM.AN OFFICER HAD TO STEP IN TOSAFELY REMOVE THAT INDIVIDUAL.rtTHE AFTERNOON IN BERKELEY,CHAOTIC.SOME FEELING DEFEATED.OTHERS, VICTORIOUS.

Advertisement 13 arrested as clashes break out during Berkeley protests Police: Fights break out as 4,000 people protest in city Share Shares Copy Link Copy

Several fights broke out during largely-peaceful protests in Berkeley Sunday afternoon when about 4,000 people converged on the city, police said.Thirteen people who ranged in ages from 20 to 47 years old, were arrested for "various violations” including assault with a deadly weapon and felony assault during the events, Berkeley police said.Of the people arrested during the protests, several were wearing masks while others were connected to assaults. Two men were arrested after exchanging blows. The SFGate reported they were quickly swept up by officers inside Civic Center Park.Police detained Patriot Prayer leader Joey Gibson at the protests. The SFGate reported he was handcuffed after being chased by a mob of demonstrators who took swings at him and pepper sprayed him. Police said Gibson was actually "rescued" and was not arrested or charged.The crowd began to diminish around 3:30 p.m., six hours after a march led to the protests. The event was one of several rallies that had been called for Sunday in Berkeley, a day after a controversial freedom rally planned by Gibson in San Francisco fizzled amid throngs of counterprotesters.Hundreds of people gathered on the UC Berkeley campus around 10 a.m. Sunday. They then marched to Civic Center Park, where police had set up barricades and secured the area with bomb sniffing dogs.MORE: See photos of the protests from ground, skyThe march was part of the Bay Area Rally Against Hate Rally. In a statement early Sunday, the group said "we fully intend to move forward with (the Rally Against Hate)" on the campus despite calls by the university police department for people to stay away for safety reasons.The rally was held in response to the planned right-wing protest "No To Marxism in America." However, organizer Amber Cummings canceled the protest on Friday, saying Berkeley officials and left-wing extremists made it impossible to hold the event and she would be the sole attendee.Despite the cancellation, hundreds of ring-wing protesters showed up to the park.Around 1 p.m., police reported the crowd had grown to several thousand.A skirmish broke out between several dozen left-wing demonstrators and a handful of right-wing supporters.The skirmish was tense but ended quickly. The left-wing protesters surrounded the small number of right-wing supporters, then shouted at them and pushed them. The right-wing protesters sought protection from police and were escorted away.Before the unpermitted events, Berkeley police put into place several rules in response the protests, stating, "To ensure the peaceful expression of free speech, the City of Berkeley will be prohibiting sticks, pipes, poles and anything else that can be used for a 'riot' at Civic Center Park."Other banned items include explosives, pepper spray, axes, dogs (except for service animals), eggs, torches and more.Police also said anything that "covers or partially covers the face and shields the wearer's face from view, or partially from view, is prohibited."However, protesters with an anarchist group arrived at the park wearing masks and hoods that covered their faces.The group of more than 100 hooded protesters, with shields emblazoned with the words "no hate" and waving a flag identifying themselves as anarchist, broke through police lines, avoiding security checks by officers to take away possible weapons. Then the group blended in with the rest of the crowd.The group pushed their way past police barricades and into Civic Center Park. They assaulted at least five people by punching and kicking them. Gibson was one of the people assaulted by the group.Police broke up the fights, using what appeared to be a smoke grenade to stop one scuffle. The three people who were attacked ran behind police lines to escape.Then around 2:30 p.m., more than 1,000 people left the park and began marching north Martin Luther King Way.An hour later, the crowd had diminished and many roads reopened.----The Associated Press contributed to this story.