DEMOCRATIC OPERATIVES WITH BASEBALL BATS: After melees, Berkeley mayor asks Cal to cancel right-wing Free Speech Week.

In the aftermath of a right-wing rally Sunday that ended with anarchists chasing attendees from a downtown park, Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin urged UC Berkeley on Monday to cancel conservatives’ plans for a Free Speech Week next month to avoid making the city the center of more violent unrest.

“I don’t want Berkeley being used as a punching bag,” said Arreguin, whose city has been the site of several showdowns this year between, on the one hand, the left and its fringe anarchist wing, and on the other, supporters of President Trump who at times have included white nationalists.

“I am concerned about these groups using large protests to create mayhem,” Arreguin said. “It’s something we have seen in Oakland and in Berkeley.”

If the mayor wants to hand over protection of free speech to the right wing, I suppose we should thank him for recognizing that we’re better prepared for the task.

(Thoroughly modern reference in the headline.)

UPDATE (FROM GLENN): Flashback: Berkeley Mayor Is Member of Antifa Facebook Group that Organized Riots.