Antifa behind violent counterprotest at UC Berkeley
The article reports on a violent counterprotest organized by the antifa coalition “By Any Means Necessary” (BAMN) against a Turning Point USA (TPUSA) event held at the University of California, Berkeley.The protest involved assaults and arrests, with agitators surrounding the campus building hosting TPUSA’s “American Comeback” tour event. BAMN circulated flyers labeling TPUSA as a white nationalist and neo-fascist group supporting former President Donald Trump’s alleged fascist agenda, calling for militant opposition on campus.
During the chaotic demonstration, counterprotesters mocked the late Charlie Kirk, TPUSA’s cofounder, who was recently assassinated, and chanted slogans advocating violence against perceived fascists. Clashes led to physical altercations, including one where a right-wing supporter was attacked and robbed.
BAMN, linked to the Revolutionary Workers League and previously identified by the FBI as perhaps involved in terrorist activities, has a history of organizing violent protests at Berkeley and elsewhere.The group’s leader, Yvette Felarca, a Berkeley middle school teacher and union representative, has faced legal charges related to politically charged violence but avoided felony conviction through a plea deal.
The Department of Justice is set to investigate the violent incidents at the TPUSA event, highlighting ongoing tensions between far-left agitators and conservative student groups on university campuses.
Antifa behind violent counterprotest against TPUSA event at UC Berkeley
Monday’s violent counterprotest against a Turning Point USA event at the University of California, Berkeley, was organized by an outside antifa agitator group responsible for leading previous uprisings on campus and across the city.
Ahead of the TPUSA speaking event, which ended in several assaults and arrests, an antifa coalition, called By Any Means Necessary, circulated a flyer calling on its followers to “End Fascist Turning Point’s Youth-Oriented Campaign of Incitement to Violence.”
According to BAMN’s poster, which was also distributed on campus, the purpose of the counterprotest was to “make clear [TPUSA] is a white nationalist, neo-fascist organization.”
In the promotional material, BAMN claimed that conservative activist Charlie Kirk, the assassinated cofounder of TPUSA, formed the student activism group “to recruit college youth toward higher and more violently active levels of support for [President Donald] Trump’s more-and-more openly fascist agenda for America.”
BAMN then accused TPUSA of enlisting “young thugs for Trump’s inevitable attempt at military occupation of the Bay Area.”
“Donald Trump’s program for a fascist America must be defeated here and now at UC Berkeley!” the call-to-action said. “UC Berkeley must not normalize fascism on our campus and in our communities!”
During the chaotic demonstration outside the event, titled “This Is The Turning Point,” on Monday evening, antifa agitators surrounded a campus building where TPUSA was scheduled to host the last leg of its American Comeback tour, a cross-country campaign promoting conservatism on college campuses.
At times, the mob broke out into chants mocking Kirk’s murder: “F*** your dead homie!”
“Who’s more alive here than Charlie Kirk?” an agitator asked the crowd after climbing over a security barrier. Another held a sign saying, “Kirk said death penalties should be public, quick, and televised. Congrats, bud!”
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One masked militant led a chant calling for political violence against so-called fascists. “Any time, any place, punch a fascist in the face!” the provocateur shouted.
A right-wing supporter, wearing a red version of the “Freedom” shirt that Kirk wore when he was killed while speaking at a TPUSA university tour stop, was left bloodied by a brawl with an agitator.
Footage from the fight shows a counterprotester stealing something from the conservative attendee before punching him in the face repeatedly as he tried to take it back.
This was not the first time that BAMN staged a violent protest on UC Berkeley’s campus or in the city. BAMN operatives were at the forefront of the mass 2017 Berkeley protests orchestrated to oppose Trump’s first term.
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Allegedly a front for the Revolutionary Workers League, a Trotskyite political party, BAMN believes that radical action is necessary “to advance the struggle … by any means necessary.”
In 2002, the FBI identified BAMN as “thought to be involved in terrorist activities.” According to an internal report, the FBI met with Secret Service and criminal intelligence officials at a “domestic terrorism symposium” where BAMN was mentioned among other organizations.
BAMN members, many of them educators, are embedded in both the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association, the largest teachers’ unions in the United States. In a successful 2020 bid to lead AFT, BAMN ran a slate of its members during the AFT national convention’s delegate elections.
The candidates included BAMN leader Yvette Felarca, a middle school teacher at Berkeley Unified School District. At that time, Felarca was the president of AFT Local 1078, the Berkeley-based AFT chapter, and remains a representative on the branch’s executive board.
In 2016, Felarca was charged with felony assault and inciting a riot for hitting an alleged neo-Nazi who was part of a rally at the California state Capitol. The altercation made national news after seven people were stabbed and 10 were hospitalized as a result of the ensuing riot.
However, under a plea deal she struck, Felarca walked away with community service — 90 hours of volunteer work at an approved nonprofit group — that would dismiss the case upon completion, per Berkeleyside.
Antifa International, a transnational antifa collective, had set up a defense fund for Felarca, which also paid for her attorney fees in a lawsuit she brought against BUSD.
The school district placed Felarca on administrative leave “pending investigation into concerns that have been raised,” such as Felarca possibly “indoctrinating” students with her ideological beliefs and taking excessive time off, perhaps to engage in political activity.
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Felarca eventually returned to teaching full-time following a series of disruptive BAMN protests that even shut down one of the school board’s bi-monthly meetings.
The Washington Examiner contacted BAMN for comment.
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