CNN Guest: Berkeley Rioters Were Actually Secret Right-Wingers Affiliated With Breitbart (R.Reich)

[workinclasszero]

CNN Guest: Berkeley Rioters Were Actually Secret Right-Wingers Affiliated With Breitbart
by Alex Griswold | 9:40 am, February 3rd, 2017

On CNN Thursday, UC Berkeley professor and former Democratic Secretary of Labor Robert Reich suggested the anti-Trump riots on campus were actually a right-wing plot to delegitimize liberals.

“I was there for part of last night, and I know what I saw and those people were not Berkeley students,” Reich said. “Those people were outside agitators. I have never seen them before.”

“There’s rumors that they actually were right-wingers. They were a part of a kind of group that was organized and ready to create the kind of tumult and danger you saw that forced the police to cancel the event,” Reich insisted. “So Donald Trump, when he says Berkeley doesn’t respect free speech rights, that’s a complete distortion of the truth.”

“You think it’s a strategy by [Milo Yiannopoulos] or right-wingers?” asked host Don Lemon.

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/cnn-guest-berkeley-rioters-were-actually-secret-right-wingers-affiliated-with-breitbart/

[Lithos]

1. Brownshirts did it

So, it's nothing new if true.

[50 Shades Of Blue]

2. That was the first thing I thought.

[HassleCat]

3. I doubt it, but anarchists would be very plausible.

[Scruffy1]

7. I know quite a few anarchists.

They are the most peaceful people I know. Some are teachers, library workers, medical workers. It's a philosophy like any other, and only in America does the term always have violent connotation They are also the most responsible people that I know. While I might not agree with them< I certainly have a great deal of respect for many of them.

[KT2000]

35. not here - in Seattle

during the WTO demonstration they were the ones damaging property.

[meadowlander]

49. I know some Seattle/Oregon area anarchists too.

They're dipshits. But what can you do?

And I think there are also a lot of agents provocateur. The right wing was busted doing it in the 60s, they were busted doing in during the Iraq was protests... it's not a huge leap to assume it's still going on.

The only way around it is for the peaceful protestors to call them out on it, try to stop them, self-police, make sure they are arrested, identified and exposed for what they are doing.

[Retrograde]

36. There's a group of mostly young men

who show up at demonstrations around the Bay Area and start trouble. They call themselves anarchists, and may be loosely connected with one or more Black Block movements. Or they may be suburban punks who like to smash things and start fires.

[Jim Beard]

48. I watched it when CNN first started showing then and I saw several of the glass breakers...

when they bent over had white skin. Why would whites be the main ones doing the destruction. Most people would think it was black people protesting because of the nature of the protest.

I noticed the same thing during Trumps inauguration.

[BannonsLiver]

57. I believe they are paid RW agitators

It's so interesting that Trump follows their every appearance with a tweet. Two cities across the country where the perps were wearing the same constumes. Doesn't pass the smell test when you hold it up next to republican talking heads in the media attempting to paint ALL protestors the same way, violent shit stirrers.

They see the protests as a major threat and they are working hard at tarring the movement.

[Jim Beard]

79. I agree. I think Trump is moving so fast.....

on his tricks that none of them have had time to "soak" in. Yes they are paid by someone with cash.

[Sunlei]

86. RW media reported those two protests as 'violent',selected images & footage toexclude the masked few

That small masked group did 100% of the violence at inauguration and they worked together.

[DK504]

92. Berkeley has become more conservative over the years.

There would be of course all ages & ethnic groups. The glass breakers of the old days are the folks that have been foreclosing on Grandma since the 2008 depression. Their peace & love bullshit disappeared the second they got into the private sectors.

As it was back in the 60's it was only a few of the bad actors that started the violence. Just like today. But they were punished by Reagan when he was governor of CA. and did take funding away from the UC system.

[Jim Beard]

99. You are absolutely right. I am a boomer and said som bad things about us

boomers on another thread and was punished. I was stating what you did about them being the ones foreclosing on grandmas. I am very disappointed in my generation. I quit going to class reunions because they were all right wingers.

[Achilleaze]

4. Thank you sir

for speaking what is on the mind of every honest American

[certainot]

50. the problem is limbaugh and sons have a much larger audience

and limbaugh this morning ridiculed reich for saying they were rw. he said it was OBVIOUS that they were left wing liberals paid by soros and dems.

if liberals stopped giving rw radio a free speech free ride the true market for his hate and lies, for trump now, would shake out to 50 stations in the swamps somewhere.

instead, he's on 600 and we let 257 of those stations, many the loudest in the country, parasitize 88 major universities

[dchill]

5. Better make sure the fire extinguishers are in good working order...

At the Reichstag.

[workinclasszero]

6. You got that right!

Trump's nazis are practicing false flag ops preparing for the BIG one.

So Trump can declare martial law and suspend the Constitution and the Bill of Rights forever.

[2naSalit]

8. That seems to be the plan....nt

[HurricaneWarning]

52. You bet.

That's the plan.

[wildeyed]

9. OMG, great minds think alike.....

I was flogging this idea yesterday. I even trolled Fox News' FB post with the idea and got good traction. I mean it does make sense. Who benefits from all the attention? Breitbart trolls! They crave attention and will do anything for a headline.

[gratuitous]

11. Notice how they haven't bothered to deny it, either?

I'd say Reich's arrow landed in the gold.

[Merlot]

10. That's what I choose to believe

and isn't believing facts now a choice?

[Augiedog]

12. Of course that's what happened, even a boob like tRump could figure that out.

[BadgerMom]

13. I read

it was the Black Bloc. But no one knows for certain who comprises the Black Bloc.

[randr]

14. DejaVu it's the 60's again

The nerds and frat boys that didn't get any in the summer of love seek revenge.

[byronius]

19. COINTELPRO and the Kent State Rock Throwers.

Same old.

[drm604]

15. Of Course

I assumed that that was the case.

[NastyRiffraff]

16. That was my immediate thought

It stinks of White Supremacist strategy.

[wryter2000]

17. He could be right

But I can tell you that just about any march or demonstration around here attracts anarchists who deliberately make trouble. This goes back to the protests before the invasion of Iraq. They ruin just about everything. I was amazed they didn't show up for the Women's March in Oakland. Maybe because it was during day time, which makes it difficult for the assholes to disguise their identities.

A few of them were arrested in Berkeley. It would be interesting to find out who they are.

[LisaM]

25. Same thing in Seattle. I was pleased they were no shows for the women's march.

Remember WTO and the trouble they caused there? I watched it from our office window. Organized groups of labor protestors with permits, ready to walk peacefully down the streets, which quickly dissolved into chaos.

[rainy]

43. Why aren't their stories ever

told after arrest? We NEVER learn who they are!

[Generic Other]

54. This is what makes me suspicious

Where are the trials? The authorities would certainly make an example of them if they were real. I seriously doubt they are such anarchy ninjas that none are ever apprehended for their vandalism. Such BS.

[HoneyBadger]

73. I Google a couple of the journalists that were charged with felony rioting

in DC. Charges dropped.

[Blanks]

91. In the story in the immediate aftermath...

The write up said something to the effect: "even though a lot of police were present, no arrests were made".

I'm paraphrasing, but that doesn't seem like a bunch of liberal snowflakes that got too worked up. That seems like people who are a little more serious about the craft.

[workinclasszero]

18. See this!!!

U.P. Republican cites 'another Kent State' as solution to protesters
By Benjamin Raven | [e-mail] February 03, 2017 at 2:06 PM, updated February 03, 2017 at 2:07 PM

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10028591356

[jmg257]

20. Sounds like as good a theory as any other. Anarchists, black bloc, paid agitators, RW loons...

What is REALLY scary is 150 whatevers threw bricks, explosives and Molotov cocktails, broke windows in 4 businesses, and started fires in the street, and only 1 was arrested.

THAT is Horseshit.

[Johnny2X2X]

21. Sick

I would honestly probably have to be stopped from beating one of these fascists to death if I caught them.

[KittyWampus]

60. at very least, take off mask and photograph.

[bucolic_frolic]

22. They need to be prosecuted and exposed for whoever they are

[zentrum]

23. And Furthermore

......why weren't they arrested in massive numbers? The police just stood there shaking their heads?

If we had arrests we could start to find out who these guys are. You can bet if it had been, in fact, unmasked, actual students in sweatshirts, they'd have been pepper sprayed and arrested.

But the SS provocateurs get a pass it seems.

[logosoco]

82. This is a good point.

WE all watched the police arrest plenty of peaceful protesters during the marches after Ferguson. Cops didn't seem to mind stepping in to arrest people then.

[kiranerys]

87. In DC

the city police did arrest ~200 people. (They've been dropping the charges for some of the folks they arrested, presumably bystanders that just got swept up.)

IIRC, the DC police chief said they had reason to believe that the riot was pre-planned by a specific group of anarchists who came to the protest for that purpose.

[torius]

24. Would be funny

if they are Russian and working for Putin.

[Hekate]

40. That enemy is much closer to home, and his name is Steve Bannon

[Gothmog]

26. Reich could be right on this

[TomVilmer]

27. The Women's March was also paid agitators...

Nice people do not need to get paid for demonstrations but neither does idiots, and there are plenty of them around - no need to borrow conspiracies from Infowars. In my little country we have all too many good demonstrations spoiled by a little bunch, who are only coming to bring fire and fight. As an old anarchist I have been inside Black Block with kaoten aus Berlin, and they were the most peaceful bunch to join, Those Molotov throwing idiots are normally a fringe part of the movements, who are not paid right wingers, but might as well be.

[lostnfound]

55. The key word is "spoiled". It stops the protest from getting bigger and appearing successful..

And it gives the right wing another chance to demonize the left.

[Mc Mike]

81. The personal details you share are always fascinating to view, TomVilner. Millions of paid women

agitators? Do tell.

Love the inforwars projection, too.

Always enchanting to read your posts. Thanks, muchly.

[TomVilmer]

83. Tired of people who only reads the headlines...

... and misunderstands the rest. That's the way Trump sees the world - do not follow his lead!

[Mc Mike]

84. I see.

People who you disagree with are like bircher Jones, and der dRumpfenfuhrer.

[tblue37]

28. Rovian ratf***ing. nt

[Hekate]

38. Bannon will do it worse, because he's into violence. Be alert.

[Warren DeMontague]

30. Oh Jesus, with the fucking Soros shit.

Give it a fucking rest. SPOOKY SOROS! Soros paid for all those people to wear pussyhats to DC, too, right? SOROS! SOROS!

[sagesnow]

88. George Soros Knitted

my pink pussy hat for me.

[obnoxiousdrunk]

31. Hannity is that you ?

[Initech]

32. Yes!!! Call the trolls out!! They cannot keep getting away with this!

[cstanleytech]

33. Its believable as the right wingers have a history that goes back decades of this kind of shit.

[workinclasszero]

39. Yes, see COINTELPRO

COINTELPRO
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

COINTELPRO (a portmanteau derived from COunter INTELligence PROgram) was a series of covert, and often illegal, projects conducted by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) aimed at surveilling, infiltrating, discrediting and disrupting domestic political organizations.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COINTELPRO

[barbtries]

34. i totally believe that.

we are tumbling into a fascist dictatorship and bannon has the handbook and trump gets to be the star.

[Hekate]

37. Reich was a very forthright eyewitness. He said they looked "paramilitary," and I believe him.

I listened to what he had to say last night, and I respect him very much for speaking out and not backing down when challenged.

Agents provocateur in the Time of Bannon -- whoda thunk it?

Thank you for your OP. I just didn't have time to post it myself.

[jmg257]

66. Please - millennials in black hoodies, jeans, workboots and Vans aren't paramilitary.

[Hekate]

69. "Paramilitary" is not a fashion statement. It's a mode of training that affects how you walk...

...how you move with your cohort, how you coordinate your activities within your group to achieve maximum violent effect. That takes practice practice practice. You get muscles.

Back in the mid-1960s some of my classmates used to play Spot the Narc. It wasn't that hard. There was something about the combination of love beads, fringed jacket, close haircut, and shiny shoes that was a tipoff. My boyfriend used to play Spot the FBI agent. He said it was the bulge under the armpit that gave him a clue.

What about these so called "Millenials" makes them stand apart from the crowd? I only saw a short clip of them rushing into the peaceful noisy protest. They took immediate coordinated violent action. I immediately said to my husband: "They're not ours. Who the hell are they working for?"

If they had really been "students" I would have expected to see their mugshots plastered all over the news, after seeing them cuffed and slapped around. Instead, nada.

Reich is not stupid. He saw the same thing close up and he has the guts and stature to speak out.

[jmg257]

70. Thanks! I don't think they were students either. Just not so sure they were paramilitary..but I

guess even anarchists or RW plants could be as you described.

[jmg257]

71. WHat I don't get is how someone can corrdinate 150 people to get to a protest w/o there being

some internet trail. Any ideas on that?

[Hekate]

76. Face to face meetings and telephone calls used to work pretty well

Think like a revolutionary -- or conversely, a criminal.

[kiranerys]

90. Secret facebook groups?

[7962]

95. How about maybe arresting ONE of them & proving it?

The truth is, nobody knows who any of them were or where they came from, if they were paid, etc. Nobody. Nab a couple of them & THEN we know. Until then, the pictures just make it look like "crazy liberals" that the right wants EVERYONE to see. So someone do their damn job, arrest a few of them and quit letting these jerks get away with attacking people & destroying property

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

97. If LEOs were not pawns of the Ruling class, that might happen.

So, I'm not holding my breath for the disrupters to be rounded up.

[randr]

41. Time to do a bit or organizing of our own

Demonstration organizers need to make sure someone is taking photos of agitators and following them to document anything they can. Outside of citizen arrests, which could be dangerous, they need to include local police for survelence if possible. We need to put a stop to this before the whole protest issue blows up in our face.

[KittyWampus]

61. good idea... follow them and photograph.

[Initech]

65. Agreed! We need to stop talking and start doing.

If there's people at our protests intending to disrupt, we need to find out these assholes. Because otherwise they'll follow us. And there has to be some way to stop Milo and his goons from pulling this shit again.

[Hekate]

75. Absolutely. In our town during the Iraq War protests our organizers worked closely with the cops.

Our mayor was on our side, which was a big help. We always pulled permits, where required. Many of us kept an eye on who joined the marches. As a result, the city cops were on our side. We got the Bicycle Patrol, not cyborgs in full armor. Ours was and remains a special case -- the city is under 100,000.

But you are spot on.

[jmg257]

42. Why don't they arrest more of these scum

And find out who they are?

[RussBLib]

44. Hitler would be proud

but maybe not

[orangecrush]

45. ...

[tirebiter]

46. The students were making themselves heard

But the anarchists can't abide by nonviolence. Same thing happened in antiwar protests in Bezerkley. Smashing book store windows long with banks seemed to be their way of making their point. Same thing happens in Seattle at such things as WTO conferences. They are bad juju. The cops were holding back until the anarchists arrived to wreck things. They have no affiliation with anybody much less with Breitbart but Milo and the College Republicans knew this was going to happen.

[calimary]

47. I figured as much. Anybody spot James O'Keefe sneaking around there?

Sounds like something he'd do.

After all, it appears they've realized how damaging those anti-trump crowds are, so it's time to fuck with them and give them a bad name.

ALSO seems like they've overplayed this because now they're getting called out for it. Their cover is blown. Which is GREAT!!!! ABSOLUTELY FREAKIN' FANTASTIC!!!

Your sneaky little "tricks" aren't working anymore, Breitbart goons! Too many people are paying attention now, and are onto you.

[mackdaddy]

64. I wondered if the O'Keefe thing was a sting or they were realling trying to hire thugs.

James O'Keefe, a well-known maker of politically-charged sting videos, found his own organization at the receiving end of a sting video when one of their intended targets claimed to have turned the tables and caught an operative from his organization, Project Veritas, offering large sums of money if protesters would agree to incite chaos at Donald Trump's 20 January 2017 inauguration.

http://www.snopes.com/2017/01/18/dueling-stings/

[calimary]

98. I suspect that O'Keefe has been busted enough times that he KNOWS people recognize his face now.

So it wouldn't surprise me if we don't see HIM sticking his head up out of the fox hole ("Fox" hole?) much anymore. He's probably paying surrogates to go out in public and act like nogoodniks and if he himself is not spotted, then he has plausible deniability.

[Lanius]

51. Law enforcement has also been known to infiltrate gatherings to incite violence and crimes

[C_U_L8R]

53. If ANTIFA is really on our side

They'd actually be fighting fascists
instead of making a mess of our protests.
Hope they prove me wrong.

[jmg257]

56. Good to know - millennials in black hoodies and jeans, workboots and Vans are "paramilitary".

While a Berkley spokesman said they were in "uniforms".

[GoCubsGo]

58. And, water is wet.

Fire is hot. Shit stinks. Cats rule. Dogs drool. Expect to see more of this over the next four years.

[jmg257]

62. Right?? The police made 1 arrest - and they were carting away a kid in a blue sweatshirt

and khakis.

Who is in charge out there??

[KingCharlemagne]

67. When the LAPD and assorted other constabulary brought the hammer down on

Occupy LA in 2011, five-six 'campers' were seen slipping across police lines and being greeted warmly by police.

I'm sure those same undercover operatives are still out there, still ready for deployment to discedit and demoralie the left.

[7962]

96. You would think, wouldn't you? nt

[mackdaddy]

63. Black bloc protests return for Trump era, leaving flames, broken windows from D.C. to Berkeley

A small handful of violent "anarchistic" have been taking advantage of large peaceful protest to cause problems. They are called "Black Bloc" , wear all black, and black face coverings and are responsible for the glass and fire damage. They are either assholes or could be false flag agents. (look up cointelpro). But unfortunately 20 people causing damage are being used to vilify tens of thousands of protestors excising their constitutional rights to peacefully assemble.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/02/02/black-bloc-protests-return-for-trump-era-leaving-flames-broken-windows-from-dc-to-berkeley/?utm_term=.d510f0cabe1a

[WinkyDink]

68. NS, Sherlock.

[HoneyBadger]

72. Recently saw a documentary about civil rights

Called I Am Not Your Negro. A takeaway is that violence as a methodology is often a part of a struggle, but it is not representative of all in the struggle. For instance, violence was associated with the Black Panthers and the Muslims, neither of which the subject , James Arthur Baldwin, joined because of that. Nor did he join MLK's forces, as they were Christian, and he had issues with how the Church appeared to be manipulating the cause. Lastly, he did not join the NAACP, as they represented an upwardly mobile group that was not a large part of the disenfranchised.

Point is just because some (blacks, Muslims, right wingers, anarchists, etc) are violent, that does not mean that they all are and it means that it is inaccurate to view them as such.

Great documentary by the way. Most fascinating was the reaction of Harlem to Kennedys ascending the Presidential ladder. Of course there was respect for those who would listen to their issues. But also there was disdain for the recently arrived climbing so quickly, when those who had paid their dues for 400 years were left behind.

[HoneyBadger]

74. One of the anarchists that was identified but not arrested in DC was almost famous

He was the son of a famous right winger, Drew Carey, who also is on tv shows.

His 11 year old son was identified as setting fire as part of the anarchy. At first he was noted because of his age, but once identified, coverage stopped.

[Rollo]

77. This may have Steve Bannon's fingerprints all over it...

I read recently that his favorite book is Sun Tzu's "Art of War".

He has applied that to the presidential campaign, and now is waging war on anyone to the left of himself. He'll use all the tricks he can, including espionage, deception, outright lying, false flags, fire, etc...

Not only that, but I watched some live footage of the protest on local TV last night. A dishevelled chubby little Bannon mini-me slid up to the cameras and proceeded to claim that he'd been attacked for being a Trump supporter, in what really sounded like a prepared speech, which ended with him singing the praises of Donald Trump.

Creepy.

[TrekLuver]

78. Yaaaayyyy now we get to say that they sent paid agitators !!! I love using their own stuff

against them....it really pisses them off. And you know what I think the Koch brothers are paying people to troll.

[Mc Mike]

80. The story is as old as Haymarket Square, or Conrad's book "The Secret Agent", or Molly Maguires.

I remember one of FireWalk's o posts on Occupy actions, showed some photos at actions where riot gear clad cops all military dressed up were arresting an agro agitator. They had the black bloc guy down on the ground, the cop was kneeling to arrest the guy who was face down, and the soles of the cops and protestors combat boots matched perfectly, right down to the brightly colored rubberized label in the center of the boot soles. Standard issue.

All black bloc ers aren't bad, but their anger is often mindless, so they work for the gov and aren't even getting paid, or they're super susceptible to infiltration.

[Sunlei]

85. The same masked people using the same tactics as in DC, they did 100% of violence. fox live stream

IMO, these people are coordinated with fox, brebart, bannon, RW hate radio, and kellyanne type of democracy disruption.

IMO, if fox is there live streaming a 'protest' they hope for trouble. These violent disrupters are closely followed by a couple of cameras, expensive cameras and you can see them following certain masked people.

It's against the law to wear masks in protests? yet this group gets a pass every time. many have backpacks and masks, something that should scare police immediately, yet police let them?

[Akamai]

89. Would be very interesting to play videos of the "protesters" in front of

Military trainers and get their views of whether many of the disruptors had military and/or self-defense training.

I would imagine that experienced trainers might have good insight on this.

Thom Hartmann mentioned Reich's criticism yesterday and also asked whether this acting-out was by right-wing thugs.

[brewens]

93. If Trump hired fake crowds, agent provocateurs wouldn't really surprise me. But the kind

of assholes that would do that probably couldn't be trusted. You'd think one of them would turn rat to try and make some money out of it.

[Raster]

94. Bannon's Breitbart Brownshirts...

...I would bet money on it. That is EXACTLY his type of tactic.

The thing that ABSOLUTELY PISSED OFF Bannon and the other tRump* rabblerousers about the INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S MARCH is that nowhere, in no country, in no jurisdiction WAS ANYONE ARRESTED. There was no violence. In fact, authorities in numerous jurisdictions -both inside the US and outside of the US- commented how peaceful and orderly the protest was.

[Averagegrunt]

100. This is ridiculous

This is absolutely ridiculous! There are always riots or near-riots at all the speeches this dude does. Mob mentality took over a bunch of leftists. We should own and condemn this.

[UTUSN]

101. R#127 & K n/t