Berkeley OKs pepper spray use by police

A confrontation Aug. 27 was one of the reasons the Berkeley police chief sought the OK to use pepper spray during demonstrations. A confrontation Aug. 27 was one of the reasons the Berkeley police chief sought the OK to use pepper spray during demonstrations. Photo: Gabrielle Lurie, The Chronicle Buy photo Photo: Gabrielle Lurie, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Berkeley OKs pepper spray use by police 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

The Berkeley City Council, fed up with violent protests in the city, agreed Tuesday to allow police to use pepper spray to subdue agitators.

The council voted 6 to 3 to approve Chief Andrew Greenwood’s request to use the eye-burning spray for crowd control, overturning a 20-year ban on the use of pepper spray during protests

The decision, at a special meeting Tuesday night, came in response to a 26-page memo by Greenwood that highlighted violent protests by right- and left- wing extremists at UC Berkeley and Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park.

Berkeley police currently have pepper spray, but rarely employ it because of a city prohibition against using the cannisters for crowd control.

The chief’s memo cited four recent events — on Feb. 1, March 4, April 15 and Aug. 27 — when large, coordinated groups of masked attackers went on rampages as police futilely waved batons and shot projectiles, smoke bombs and tear gas.

Mayor Jesse Arreguin and other council members expressed dismay at seeing their city used as a staging ground for mob violence, especially given that the hand-held aerosol spray cans are standard tools for police in San Francisco, Oakland, Seattle, San Jose and many other jurisdictions.

Before the vote, Arreguin amended the policy to restrict use of the spray only on violent individuals. Officers may not use pepper spray on non-violent resisters or to disperse or move crowds, according to the amendment.

Council members Kriss Worthington, Cheryl Davila and Kate Harrison voted against the proposal.

The turning point in the argument appeared to be the right-wing “No to Marxism in Berkeley” rally on Aug. 27 at Civic Center Park. During the march, masked antifascists, who call themselves “antifa,” set off smoke bombs around the park, attacked several people and left “under the cover of peaceful demonstrators,” Greenwood wrote.

Officers might have been able to stop the extremists, he said, if they had been able to use pepper spray.

Peter Fimrite is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: pfimrite@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @pfimrite