Right-wing rallies in limbo in San Francisco and Berkeley

The leader of a right-wing group that had planned a Saturday rally at Crissy Field in San Francisco called off the event Friday just as local and federal officials put the finishing touches on a slate of security measures designed to head off the kind of violence seen this month in Charlottesville, Va.

But Joey Gibson of Patriot Prayer said the group will instead hold a “press conference” at 2 p.m. Saturday at Alamo Square Park in the Western Addition.

In this April 27, 2017, file photo, Joey Gibson speaks during a rally in Berkeley, Calif. Gibson's group has applied for a permit for an Aug. 26 rally at Crissy Field that many officials fear will attract armed militias and white nationalist groups. Gibson said Friday that he had decided to cancel the event and hold a “press conference” instead. less In this April 27, 2017, file photo, Joey Gibson speaks during a rally in Berkeley, Calif. Gibson's group has applied for a permit for an Aug. 26 rally at Crissy Field that many officials fear will attract armed ... more Photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez, AP Photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez, AP Image 1 of / 18 Caption Close Right-wing rallies in limbo in San Francisco and Berkeley 1 / 18 Back to Gallery

The announcement — which suggested the event had become a moving target, at the mercy of the whims of a fringe group — prompted the National Park Service to lift a batch of restrictions it had planned around Crissy Field on Saturday. Businesses in the Presidio can open as usual.

But it left San Francisco leaders scrambling to come up with a plan to keep the peace in Alamo Square, heading off potential clashes between the right-wing group and counterprotesters.

On Facebook Live, Gibson said the same speakers and bands who were going to appear at Crissy Field would be at Alamo Square Park. But while he was granted a special-event permit for the Presidio, he does not have one for his “press conference.”

Gibson and other supporters appearing with him on the Facebook feed said they’d changed their plans because of fears that violent protesters using “black bloc” tactics would attend their Crissy Field rally. They also said the speakers and bands scheduled to perform at the rally had been “harassed.”

“I am calling on (city officials) to denounce antifa publicly,” said Will Johnson, an event organizer, referring to antifascist protesters who have clashed with right-wing activists in recent months at events in Berkeley and around the country. “We could have had this rally, and it would have been peaceful. Not a single person wants to fight. They are bringing the violence.”

The organizers blamed statements by Mayor Ed Lee and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, for creating a hostile climate against them. Both politicians had called on the National Park Service to deny the group a permit for what Pelosi called a “white supremacist rally.”

Gibson has said his group does not espouse racist views. Its events, however, have drawn white nationalists. Violent clashes with counterprotesters have broken out at past rallies.

San Francisco Supervisor Mark Farrell, whose district borders Crissy Field, said the “press conference” was a blatant attempt to provoke more trouble.

“Whether they hold the rally at Crissy Field or make plans elsewhere to disrupt our city, it is our responsibility to make sure every contingency is planned for,” Farrell said. “I was hoping they would cancel and pack up their tents and go home. This is just meant to cause further disruption to the residents of San Francisco. That is their mode of operation.”

State Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, said Patriot Prayer had “showed its true colors by canceling, at the last minute. ... Patriot Prayer is not interested in simply exercising free speech. Rather, Patriot Prayer wants to create a volatile, chaotic, violent tinderbox.”

He said he was “deeply concerned” the Alamo Square Park gathering will lead to violence.

The mayor’s office said late Friday that officials were still considering whether to undo safety measures that were taken around Crissy Field, including rerouting several Muni lines on Saturday.

Counterprotesters were keeping tabs on the fluid situation, responding to the change of plans by posting antihate posters at the new gathering site and vowing to turn up Saturday wherever the Patriot Prayer group landed.

“We’ve got them on the run, that’s for sure, but they’re still holding an event,” said Yvette Felarca, an organizer with the left-wing activist group By Any Means Necessary. “We’re still calling for everyone to come out.”

As the fog and wind rolled into Alamo Square on Friday night, two San Francisco police cars were stationed along the walkways. A community organizer showed up with duct tape and flyers reading, “You Will Not Divide Us.”

News of the new venue wasn’t received well at the site of the Painted Ladies, where tourists snapped photos of themselves and children romped on the playground.

“They’re having it here?” said neighborhood resident Robert Mora, 48, as he stopped to read an antihate poster. “Now I'm really pissed off. They’re not welcome here. I know they have free speech and all, but they are just spewing hatred.”

According to the city Recreation and Park Department, any gathering is considered a “special event” if it involves amplified sound, advertises that it is open to the public, or requires special barricades and fences, among other things. Police can disband an unpermitted event and arrest organizers.

The city requires special-event applications to be submitted at least 60 days in advance. The fee is $62.

Police Chief Bill Scott said unpermitted events happen around San Francisco and commanders must gauge whether there is a threat of violence.

“What oftentimes happens is, when we get there, we have to decide to allow it or shut it down,” Scott said. “If there is no violence, and we don’t need anything other than a police presence to facilitate safety, we will just do that. If it feels unsafe, unlawful or violent, that is when we will shut it down.”

Every police officer will be on duty Saturday, he said. He declined to give specifics about the city’s evolving plan.

Across the bay, it was unclear whether a separate, unpermitted rally would be held at 1 p.m. Sunday at Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park in Berkeley — an event that Gibson said he would attend. Police were planning to respond to the “No Marxism in Berkeley” event with a force of hundreds of officers from the city and surrounding agencies.

However, an organizer of the Berkeley rally, Amber Cummings, said in a rambling email Friday that she was urging people not to show up, because she feared violence by counterprotesters.

“It will be me alone attending, no one else please,” Cummings said. “In the event I am hurt or killed attending this rally, I ask you to please not retaliate on each other as a result of my injuries. Let my life be the last one lost.”

Prior to the cancellation of the Crissy Field rally, San Francisco and Berkeley officials urged residents opposed to the right-wing events to send a message by joining together for peaceful gatherings in locations far from the rallies. Many such demonstrations are planned this weekend.

“Y’all know that some people are coming tomorrow to our city,” Lee said outside City Hall on Friday, as hundreds of people gathered, stopping traffic on the street. It was a preview of a much larger counter-rally scheduled for the space Saturday.

Lee was joined by other top city and state Democratic leaders, including Wiener and Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough. Nearly two dozen men and women from the Glide Ensemble, wearing rainbow shirts and holding “Unite Against Hate” signs, sang gospel music.

“We are at the forefront of every new social movement,” Speier said of San Francisco. “Hate will not infect us and become a cancer in this city. Love will win.”

Across the bay, Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin said he planned to attend a counterprotest Sunday organized by nearly 60 community groups. He said he was inspired by peaceful protests last weekend in Boston, which overshadowed a right-wing rally.

“What happened in Boston has changed the situation, where we have seen that a large counterprotest can have the effect of discouraging hate groups from coming into a city,” Arreguin said. “It sends a powerful message that communities can rise against hate.”

Chronicle staff writers Vivian Ho, Michael Bodley and Kurtis Alexander contributed to this story.

Lizzie Johnson is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: ljohnson@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @LizzieJohnsonnn

This weekend’s events

The Bay Area is gearing up for a series of political events this weekend that have law enforcement authorities on edge, including far-right gatherings in San Francisco and Berkeley and a number of counterdemonstrations.