BERKELEY, Calif. _ About 200 pro-Trump demonstrators and counterprotesters faced off Saturday morning at a "Patriots Day" rally in Berkeley, where the two groups have violently clashed on city streets twice in the past three months.
About 10 a.m., dozens of counterprotesters wearing masks tore down plastic netting that separated the two groups in Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park. The Trump supporters moved forward with American flags and chants against "communists."
Two counterdemonstrators were led away by police in handcuffs.
At one point, a loud explosion could be heard in the park and fistfights broke out among members of both groups. Berkeley police immediately moved in and the crowd moved back.
The rally, one of many being held across the country, was sponsored by the pro-Trump group Liberty Revival Alliance and was originally scheduled for noon to 4 p.m. in Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park. A scheduled farmer's market, which is usually held adjacent to the park, was cancelled as a precaution.
Berkeley Police Sgt. Andrew Frankel told local television that police would have extra patrols on duty in case things get out of hand. "We've staffed accordingly and are preparing for a number of different contingencies," he said.
About two dozen police officers were at the park early Saturday and set up a narrow entrance to control access. Those entering the park are prohibited from bringing the following items: metal pipes, baseball bats, poles, bricks, mace, knives, rocks, glass bottles, eggs or tasers.
Last month, 10 people were arrested and seven others injured at what was supposed to be a pro-Trump rally in the liberal community. In February, a scheduled appearance by conservative provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos was cancelled during a violent protest on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley.
