BERKELEY — After multiple violent clashes in recent weeks between fringe groups on the left and right, the city readied itself for another potential melee on Thursday in the aftermath of the furor over Ann Coulter’s planned and canceled speech at UC Berkeley. It never arrived.

Far-right demonstrators — who vowed to come to Berkeley after Coulter announced she would not — called the day a victory for free speech. With only five arrests, city officials might have considered it a victory, too.

“I hope that things remain civil and that violence won’t happen, but we won’t tolerate violence, end of story,” Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín said. “If these extremists get violent, we’ll put our foot down.”

The Coulter controversy ballooned into a national debate about UC Berkeley’s reputation as a bastion of free speech, with conservative groups ultimately filing a lawsuit against the university alleging it violated their right to free speech for not accommodating plans for the conservative commentator and author to speak Thursday. The university said it had never agreed to host Coulter on Thursday, and that it had offered an alternative date of May 2 because of security threats that had been received surrounding Thursday’s planned talk, which had been organized by Berkeley College Republicans.

With reinforcements brought in from the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office and the California Highway Patrol, hundreds of police officers kept watch at UC Berkeley’s Sproul Plaza and at Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park, at times outnumbering demonstrators.

Berkeley police said late Thursday their officers and UC Berkeley police made five protest-related arrests: Mark Wilder, 52, of Irving, in downtown Berkeley on suspicion of carrying a knife on campus; an unnamed juvenile in Ohlone Park on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance; an unidentified person in Civic Center Park on suspicion of resisting arrest; Donque Addision, 28, of Oakland on suspicion of resisting arrest in Civic Center Park; and Stephen Hall, 48, of Oakland on suspicion of attempting to incite a riot and violation of probation in Civic Center Park.

Berkeley police also said late Thursday that there were no reports of injuries or property damage, and that officers had confiscated numerous weapons from protesters.

A couple of hundred protesters faced off on either side of Allston Way, chanting opposing messages.

As the day dragged on, the police department described the rally by far-right demonstrators as a “peaceful gathering.” The counter demonstrations were in stark contrast to earlier violent clashes.

Two weeks ago, 11 people were injured and 19 arrested after counter demonstrations by so-called alt-right conservatives supporting white nationalist and anti-fascist groups quickly turned ugly. A campus speech earlier this year by then-Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos was canceled after masked protesters, some hiding behind homemade shields, smashed windows and shot fireworks at police officers.

On Thursday, about two dozen people gathered around 10:30 a.m. at the park, most of them supporting President Donald Trump.

“I’m here for freedom of speech, since it’s being squashed everywhere in America by wannabe ISIS ninja guys,” said David Fry, president of the American Freedom Motorcycle Association of Tacoma, Washington.

Meanwhile, at Sproul Plaza, one man with a bullhorn spoke while another man waved an American flag in his face. They were watched by about 100 bystanders.

“This issue is not free speech. The issue is fascism,” the man with the bullhorn said. “We have a fascist regime in the White House. … When fascism comes to America, it’ll be wrapped in a flag.”

The International Socialist Organization called for members to meet at noon at the corner of Bancroft Way and Telegraph Avenue. That group claimed on its Facebook page that Coulter is a racist and called far-right supporters “antithetical to the legacy of the Free Speech Movement.”

Police, bracing for crowds, had set up orange barricades around the plaza, but they were not obstructing the flow of pedestrian traffic.

The crowd in the park grew to a few hundred by 2 p.m., where conservative provocateur Gavin McInnes read the speech Coulter had planned to give. Speakers at the rally, referring to themselves as “Patriots” in a battle, urged their supporters to “stand up” against the political left and against groups like the one known as Antifa, or anti-fascists, who have clashed with the right-wing groups in Berkeley before.

A right-wing speaker who calls himself Baked Alaska told the crowd that while he loves Coulter, they should remember that “this movement was here before Ann Coulter.” He poked fun at mainstream news outlets who covered the rally, calling them — in the fashion of Trump — “the fake news,” drawing laughs from the crowd.

Lauren Southern, a Canadian speaker, referred to the clashes with other protesters as “battles” between her supporters, who called themselves “Patriots,” and groups like Antifa.

“We’ll keep coming back,” Southern said. “We will win the war for Berkeley.”

At the other end of the park, a group had set up an “empathy tent.”

“What’s the point of free speech if no one listens,” said Dave Gottfried, who regularly helps host the empathy tent, which has made appearances at protests and events since the Occupy movement. “We listen, and try to help people listen.”

After the rally, organizers encouraged attendees to go home, but some remained and lined Allston Way, where police formed a line to separate opposing groups.

Earlier Thursday, UC Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks and Arreguín issued a joint statement, saying they had worked to find solutions to allow Coulter to safely speak at the campus.

Cal student Paul Monge Rodriguez said he deliberately avoided Sproul Plaza, and said “the university is being used like a combat theater between more militant groups that aren’t necessarily students.”

“It’s kind of frustrating to be caught in the middle and not feel like the student perspective is being represented here,” he said.

Staff writers George Kelly and Emily DeRuy contributed to this report.

Full statement from Chancellor Nicholas Dirks of the University of California, Berkeley, and Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín on Thursday:

The values of openness, equity, diversity and freedom of speech are deeply enshrined in our community. Both the City of Berkeley and the University of California have been at the forefront of free speech and continue to do so to this day. We have worked on finding solutions that ensure that those who wish to speak are able to do so in a safe space. What we will not do is allow our students, other members of the campus community, and the public to be needlessly endangered by permitting an event to be held in a venue that our police force does not believe to be protectable. Creating an environment that prevents violence is not censorship, rather it is protection of free speech. Ann Coulter did not take up the University’s offer to have the event held at a time where we could ensure safety. To be clear, the decision to cancel the speech was that of Coulter, not the University.

We have gone above and beyond to protect freedom of speech, contrary to many misleading reports. While we cherish our freedoms of speech and assembly, there is no freedom to silence others or to commit violence. If you are at a demonstration and you see violence, separate yourself. Keep a distance from violence. If you can do so safely, report it to police. The City and University stands together in our commitment to protect the fundamental principles of democracy — freedom of expression, thought and peaceful assembly, and we call on everyone to do the same.

Chancellor Nicholas Dirks

Mayor Jesse Arreguín