Many on the left are starting to see the goons of Antifa as the menace they are. Too bad the Berkeley, Calif., Police Department remains clueless.

The college town saw a large Rally Against Hate on Sunday, initially planned as a response to a right-wing demonstration that wound up canceled over security concerns.

A few pro-Trumpers and other miscellaneous rightists still turned out to show their flags — and so did the ninja-wannabes.

Yet when hundreds of masked, armored thugs arrived in quasi-military formation, carrying shields banned under police rules, the cops were ordered to retreat.

Some 400 officers from the Berkeley, Oakland, UC Berkeley and Alameda County forces had been keeping control, confiscating anything that could be used as a weapon.

But when the goons broke through police barricades and checkpoints and started beating and pepper-spraying others, “We made a strategic decision to move our officers,” said Berkeley police spokeswoman Officer Jennifer Coats.

As the police left, San Francisco Chronicle reporter Lizzie Johnson tweeted: “A sea of black masks as far as I can see. This is what WAS NOT supposed to happen.”

Berkeley’s police chief, Andrew Greenwood, argued that his orders avoided violence: “The potential use of force became very problematic,” and he didn’t see a “need for a confrontation over a grass patch.”

Huh? It’s the duty of the police to use force responsibly to protect the peace. Facing a horde bent on violence, cops must protect the law-abiding from the law-breaking.

Instead, at least five people were attacked, while the police wound up arresting 13 for assault with a deadly weapon, obstructing a police officer and other charges.

Oh and here’s another tweet from the Chonicle’s Johnson: “ ‘Take his camera, take his phone,’ they are shouting at a journalist.”

From the Los Angeles Times’ James Que­al­ly: “There is a complete mob mentality here. People are randomly accusing random people of being Nazis.”

And: “Masked protesters, claiming to be Antifa, threatening to break reporters’ cameras if they film them.”

“Antifa” stands for “anti-fascist” — the most perverse use of “anti” ever. If this keeps up, Berkeley will soon be known as the deathplace of free speech.