ndreds of pro-Trump demonstrators and counter-protesters clashed Saturday at a “Patriots Day” rally in Berkeley, the third time the two groups engaged in violent confrontations on city streets in recent months.
Fistfights broke out near Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park, where Trump supporters had scheduled a rally. Fireworks and smoke bombs were thrown into the crowd, and a few demonstrators were doused with pepper spray.
Both groups threw rocks and sticks at each other and used a large trash bin as a battering ram as the crowd moved around the perimeter of the park. One bank boarded up its ATM machines before the rally as a precaution.
Sixteen people were arrested, said Officer Jennifer Coats of the Berkeley Police Department. Nine people were injured, with six taken to a hospital for treatment, including one stabbing victim, she said.
