Calm prevails in Berkeley after cops gear up in wake of Coulter cancellation

Liberal Bahareh Javaheri (center) debates with conservatives at MLK Park on Thursday, April 27, 2017, in Berkeley, Calif. Conservative commentator Ann Coulter was to speak at UC Berkeley, but cancelled after groups sponsoring her event no longer supported her appearance. less Liberal Bahareh Javaheri (center) debates with conservatives at MLK Park on Thursday, April 27, 2017, in Berkeley, Calif. Conservative commentator Ann Coulter was to speak at UC Berkeley, but cancelled after ... more Photo: Santiago Mejia, The Chronicle Photo: Santiago Mejia, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 38 Caption Close Calm prevails in Berkeley after cops gear up in wake of Coulter cancellation 1 / 38 Back to Gallery

Police braced for mayhem Thursday as “battle-ready” protesters vowed to converge on Berkeley, but only spirited speeches broke out rather than the type of violent clashes between right and left groups that have turned the city into a political combat zone.

On the UC Berkeley campus and at Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park a few blocks to the west — the site of recent riot-like brawls — scores of cops took a more assertive stance as they monitored protesters, many of them upset by the cancellation of a visit by conservative commentator Ann Coulter, which they called an attack on free speech.

They had traveled from the Bay Area or other parts of the country. Many were backers of President Trump who displayed American flags as music blared from radios. Some expressed extreme views, with one showing off an “Allah is Satan” shirt. But aside from chants of, “USA! USA! USA!,” the atmosphere was more picnic than protest.

By the early evening, after Berkeley police received help from Oakland officers and Alameda County sheriff’s deputies, the crowds had dwindled.

As many as 100 counterprotesters showed up across the street from the park at one point and chanted, “Hey, hey, ho, ho, Donald Trump has got to go.” Those in the park ambled over to watch, as dozens of police officers cleared a line between the two sides.

“It’s all right,” said Linda Perry, 62, who had motorcycled in from Folsom. “We can agree to disagree. But it‘s good if they stay on that side and we stay on this side.”

The calm stood in contrast to clashes in Berkeley in recent months that produced bloody assaults and many arrests — plus second-guessing of the ability of police to intervene. The demonstrators in the park on Thursday said they had not come to fight.

“We’re going to all the liberal places to show you don’t have to hide,” Joey Gibson of American Freedom Keepers, one of more than a dozen speakers at the park rally, said to a cheering crowd after he drove in from Washington state. “We will make the West Coast red again.”

There was no sign of the conservative groups’ adversaries — self-described anti-fascists who have shown up to pro-Trump and white nationalist rallies with their own weapons, wearing black and covering their faces, employing what are known as black bloc tactics.

At UC Berkeley, the threat of violence passed by early afternoon amid an even heavier police presence. Students and others entering the campus were subject to bag searches, while barricades filled with water lined Sproul Plaza. By 3 p.m., two men had been arrested — one for refusing to identify himself or remove a surgical mask and another for allegedly carrying a knife.

Berkeley, synonymous with liberal activism, has in recent months become a target of the far-right. Canadian radio host Lauren Southern, one of the speakers at the park, said those on her side “won” Thursday because they were able to hold the park.

Conservative groups have accused UC Berkeley officials of stifling free speech in their response to plans by a Republican student group to host controversial speakers Coulter and former Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos. Neither has actually spoken, which the black-clad forces view as a victory against hate.

Coulter was expected to speak at UC Berkeley Thursday, but officials determined there was no facility available to accommodate her given safety concerns. Other dates offered by the university were rejected by Coulter, who said she would still come — even if that meant speaking at Sproul Plaza. But Wednesday, Coulter said she wouldn’t show after the groups sponsoring her backed out.

Those who nonetheless showed up at Civic Center Park on Thursday included Jonathon Paull, a 46-year-old Houston attorney, who wore a bulletproof vest and a helmet. He said he doesn’t agree with anything Coulter says, but believes she has a right to speak.

“I’ve never been to something like this before,” said Paull, who calls himself a moderate Republican. “I came out here because I’m scared for our country.”

Annette Roman, 51, of Berkeley, was among a smaller group of anti-Trump demonstrators in the crowd. She carried a sign bearing a Coulter quote: “Earth is yours. Take it, rape it.” She called Coulter “scary” and said the conservatives who traveled to Berkeley only wanted to “provoke trouble.”

“I hate being here, but I have to be,” she said, explaining that her father was a Holocaust survivor. “They couldn’t speak in their time, so I’m speaking in mine.

Berkeley has been a battleground since Feb. 1, when UC police canceled a speech by Yiannopoulos at the last minute after rioting broke out. A month later, 10 people were arrested after a confrontation between Trump supporters and opponents at Civic Center Park. On April 15, 11 people were injured and 20 arrested after a park rally turned even uglier.

This time, city and campus police were more visible and emphatic. Berkeley police said in the evening they had made five arrests of people connected with the political events.

On campus, some students reflected Thursday on the conflict playing out in the city. Jacob Gill, a 22-year-old student, discussed with a friend whether it was right that nonstudents were coming to campus to protest.

“I’m against using violence and intimidation to shut down speakers,” said Gill, who supports Coulter’s right to speak, even though he disagrees with her views. “Use good speech to combat bad speech.”

Student Hyelynn Koo, 22, strolled through the barricaded Sproul Plaza sipping a smoothie. One of her four classes had been canceled over fears of violence.

“I’m really annoyed ... I pay out-of-state tuition,” she said. “I just think it’s ridiculous because most of the rioters aren’t Berkeley students. It’s giving our school a bad name.”

San Francisco Chronicle staff writers Lizzie Johnson and Michael Bodley contributed to this story.

Jill Tucker, Sarah Ravani and Kevin Fagan are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: jtucker@sfchronicle.com, sravani@sfchronicle.com, kfagan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jilltucker @sarravani @kevinchron