The former UFC veteran and Strikeforce champion Jake Shields alleges that he intervened to aid a man “being beaten by thugs”.

Shields, 38, uploaded a video to Twitter which shows him engaging with protesters following Wednesday’s riots at UC-Berkeley, in California.

The controversial Breitbart Editor and speaker Milo Yiannopoulos was scheduled to perform at the university, until he was evacuated with his team following violent scenes.

In response to the chaos, UC-Berkeley officials stated:

“Amid an apparently organized violent attack and destruction of property at UC Berkeley’s Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union, the UC Police Department (UCPD) determined it was necessary to evacuate controversial speaker Milo Yiannopoulos from campus and to cancel his scheduled 8 p.m. event”.

Shields stated on Twitter that he aided the defence of a man who was being attacked by masked protesters. Shields later confirmed:

“They attacked him for being a Trump supporter, no other reason.”

In the video available to view (via Shields’ Twitter) the Tennessee native confronts the masked men:

“You guys have your faces covered. You’re attacking people. You are being (expletive) fascists. Look at you guys, you’re (expletive) embarrassing. It’s not okay.”

The former Pan-American, BJJ gold-medallist claimed that police officers among others watched failed to intervene in the fracas. Shields also stated that he was involved “in a few scuffles” in a night of protests and violence.

You can watch the full clip (courtesy of @jshieldsajj) below: