Police in Berkeley, California, employed similar tactics this year after a hands-off approach failed to prevent a series of violent clashes. At the “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville on Aug. 12, white nationalists and counterprotesters converged at an intersection that remained unblocked by barriers or police tape. Charlottesville Police Chief Al Thomas said white nationalists didn’t comply with a security plan that police had devised to keep them separated from counterprotesters. Police Chief Alfred Durham said authorities had learned from Charlottesville and would quickly step in to break up any violence. Associated Press writers Jason Dearen in Gainesville, Florida; Sarah Rankin in Richmond, Virginia; and Paul Elias in San Francisco, contributed to this report.

Source: National Post November 06, 2017 08:03 UTC