The Berkeley Police Department is investigating a former Diablo Valley College teacher accused of assaulting a Trump supporter at a protest in Berkeley.

Anonymous users on 4Chan, a public online bulletin board, identified philosophy professor Eric Clanton as the masked man who hit a Trump supporter over the head with a bike lock at a Patriot’s Day rally on April 15.



Users started a discussion thread on the website’s “/pol/ Politically Incorrect” board and later released the information on the board’s Twitter account. After the incident, 4Chan anonymous users posted Clanton’s personal information on Twitter, such as his home address, job locations and OK Cupid profile.

On April 19, a tweet from “/pol/ News Network” mistakenly identified Clanton as an SF State professor, however, SF State spokesperson Mary Kenny denied this.

“Eric Clanton is not an employee of the University,” Kenny said. “He was an instructional student assistant in the philosophy department for one semester during spring semester 2013 and also worked for three semesters as a graduate teaching associate in the philosophy department from August 2013 until January 2015.”

Clanton began teaching at DVC in 2015 but is not working this semester, according to Timothy Leong, Contra Costa Community College District l director of communications and community relations.

According to The Inquirer, Clanton has shut down his social media.

“We are working with Berkeley Police Department, who is the lead on the investigation of the recent altercations that occurred in their city,” Leong said.