NMWD Investigative Report: Berkeley City Mayor Jesse Arreguín And His Role In The Recent Mass Riotin
[Berkeley, California] Jesse Arreguín, a known left-leaning Democrat, became The City of Berkeley's youngest mayor at 32 years old, as well as its first Latino mayor. Arreguín won with 52% of the vote over his rivals Laurie Capitelli and Kriss Worthington.
Barely six months into his term, Berkeley and its university have been the center of attention due to multiple instances of violence-infused protests.
On February 1st, a scheduled speech at the University of California, Berkeley by Milo Yiannopoulos, a labeled divisive right-wing ex-writer for Breitbart.com, was canceled after demonstrators opposed to his appearance protested by setting fires to garbage bins and throwing objects at buildings.
During the protest, buildings on campus were locked down and the university police department requested that students evacuate the area because of the "violent demonstration." The lockdown lasted until about 11:00 p.m. local time.
The next day, President Trump chimed in on his Twitter account and threatened to cut federal funds if free speech on campus was obstructed by rioters.
Top adviser to Trump, Kellyanne Conway, expressed her concern as well. She said, "I don’t even know if they know what they’re protesting. Is it the free speech? Having someone maybe on your campus who has a dissenting point of view or wants to present an alternative point of view?”
Below are two photos from the protest:
Fast forwarding to April 15th
A protest dubbed "Patriot Day" by pro-Trump organizers commenced in a Berkeley city park and was met with heavy resistance by anti-Trump activists. About 1,500 people total were in attendance.
Both sides eventually exchanged blows during the event. M-80s, brass knuckles, rocks, sticks and steel bicycle locks were used, resulting in numerous injuries.
Local police had initially formed a line between both sides, to supposedly deter and prevent violence. After that line was breached by one side, violence ensued and police reportedly backed off.
One participant, John Beavers of Washington, reported to CBS local news that he was hit in the nose.
“Well, they want to hit me with brass knuckles from my blind side," he said.
Another victim, David Fry from the same state, said, "They hit me twice while I was down - it was sad."
The two were purportedly there to support President Trump and the "Patriot Day" event, with the attackers being from a known, nationwide anarchist group called "Antifa" which stands for Antifascist.
A masked Antifa instigator is seen in multiple videos hitting people with a U-shaped bicycle lock; one man being struck directly on the head, resulting in heavy bleeding afterwards. The suspect retreated into his side of the crowd immediately after each strike.
View the videos below to see slow motion clips of the attacks (from YouTube user Juden Kuddelmuddel) as well as an investigative analysis of the assailant's alleged identity (from user Wild Smile):
Who is Berkeley City Mayor Jesse Arreguín?
Not much information is available on Jesse Arreguín's Wikipedia page:
"Jesse Arreguin is the mayor of Berkeley, California. He was elected in the general presidential election on November 8, 2016 to a renewable four year term. He was sworn in as mayor on December 1, 2016.
"Prior to his election as mayor, Arreguin served as a Berkeley City Council member representing City Council District 4 beginning in 2008. He is a Democrat, although local government positions are officially nonpartisan per California state law."
According to The Daily Californian, Arreguín started his political career in 2008 as a City Council member. Prior to that in 2004, 20 year old UC Berkeley student Arreguín was director of the ASUC City Affairs Lobby and Housing Commission. Later, he was elected to the Rent Stabilization Board.
During the mayor election cycle, he received a major endorsement from Senator Bernie Sanders, which helped him secure front runner status.
His campaign was fueled by a youth-driven grassroots movement which advocated for strong progressive policies.
As the election results came in late Wednesday night on November 9th, 2016, Arreguín made a statement to his supporters: "Thank you all so much for your support and together let’s move Berkeley into a new generation of progressive leadership.”
The devastating victory of Republican nominee Donald Trump for U.S. President clearly agitated the soon-to-be leftist mayor. In response, he said, “Maybe we are entering dark times, but that is all the more reason that Berkeley will be a beacon in the dark. That is what I’ll do for the next four years.”
Mayor Arreguín's official City of Berkeley homepage includes a brief description of his office's mission:
"The Mayor's office is committed to ensuring a sustainable, equitable and vibrant future for Berkeley. Mayor Arreguin is committed to creating a Berkeley that works for everyone, by promoting innovation in our city government and local economy, improving city services, investing in our infrastructure to create a world class city, and addressing the issues of affordability and equity in our community. Please contact our office with any questions, concerns or suggestions. We are here to serve you."
The City of Berkeley's official logo apparently represents a community which is diverse, supporting the office's statement of being "committed to creating a Berkeley that works for everyone."
But after visiting Arreguín's social media pages, such as Twitter and Facebook (unavailable, but cached), his conduct and participation in certain groups paints a totally different picture; one that isn't exactly diverse, equal or in the interest of everyone.
First, his steadfast opposition to the Trump administration is glaringly obvious. The below tweet from March 16th shows his office's desire to distance itself from the POTUS; perhaps in support of the recent #Calexit movement:
Two following tweets, both from April 14th, show his desire to continue the dangerous "Sanctuary City" agenda as well as pioneering the first female-only Muslim place of worship. In the latter tweet, he ironically states, "Thank you for promoting peace, inclusivity, and equality." Using 'inclusivity' and 'equality' in this particular context is an oxymoron:
On April 18th, Arreguín tweeted about his attendance at a community forum dedicated to discussing the militarization of police:
Although the consensus of a para-military police presence in America is generally looked down upon, perhaps an ulterior motive underlies this particular discussion.
The lack of a forceful police response during the recent violent protests may indicate Berkeley's desire to essentially "neuter" their department's ability to quell any such events.
For instance, when an unprecedented amount of violence, which essentially equated to rioting, broke out during the April 15th protest, police officers on the ground almost immediately retreated.
Additionally, some alleged unidentified government officials who were standing on nearby rooftops were seen using binoculars, radios, video cameras and possibly other gear.
The below pictures are credited to Twitter user Thomas Wictor:
What was Berkeley PD's reasoning for not intervening and allowing multiple victims to sustain injuries - some major? Did Mayor Arreguín instruct his Chief of Police, Andrew Greenwood, to tell the officers to stand down?
Arreguín furthered his anti-Trump sentiment by attending a "Free Speech Movement Cafe" on April 18th which discussed so-called "progressive mayorship" in the Trump era. His rhetoric aligns with what Americans have heard from the left since Trump assumed office in January; a complete and total opposition-oriented undertone, which seeks to undermine the administration's every move - every step of the way.
See his tweet below:
Finally, on April 21st, Arreguín spoke at the 8th annual conference on Islamophobia. Although on the surface, the topic of Islamophobia may be warranted and discussions of it encouraged to maintain the spirit of equality for all, this particular speech seems to coincide with his previous efforts of resisting the so-called federal "Muslim ban," which was actually a ban on persons located in war-torn and terrorist prone areas who seek asylum here in the U.S. The countries involved in the ban were originally pre-approved by the previous administration (Obama):
Jesse Arreguín's connection to radical ideological groups
After a careful examination of Mayor Arreguín's cached Facebook page, one will discover he was and/or is affiliated with a number of questionable groups. At face value, this seems like a conflict of interest considering his public status as the mayor of a major city and his office's pledge to "work for everyone."
Below are screenshots of his page:
One group of particular note is called "BAMN," which stands for "By Any Means Necessary." Their homepage is located here.
Their leader, Yvette Felarca, was interviewed on Tucker Carlson Tonight (Fox News) shortly after the rioting that occurred when writer Milo Yiannopoulos was scheduled to speak at UC Berkeley.
During the interview, Carlson played footage of Felarca acting belligerent towards another protester during a previous event last summer in Sacramento. She is seen cussing, punching and pushing the protester. Multiple times during the confrontation, she yells, "Get the f*ck off our street!"
See the video below:
As a political representative, Arreguín's affiliation with BAMN could raise questions about his character, integrity and ability to effectively govern a city without prejudice. Is he connected to Antifa, as well? Deeper research may be in order to determine that, but it is not an impossibility considering the anti-conservative, anti-right and anti-Trump rhetoric he spouts as well as his past and/or present affiliations with radical group(s).
The future of Berkeley
Recently, conservative commentator Ann Coulter was scheduled to speak at the UC campus on April 27th after college Republicans invited her, but the school itself canceled the event due to "threats of rioting or other violence." Coulter still planned to show up regardless.
In another Tucker Carlson interview, she asked, "What are they going to do? Arrest me?"
On Thursday, representatives from UC Berkeley told Coulter they could reschedule the event for May 2nd; their reasoning was it would give them enough time to recruit more security.
Her response: "I'm speaking at Berkeley on April 27th, as I was invited to do and have a contract to do."
She noted that she had already spent money for travel, hotels, etc. for the scheduled April 27th speech and said "there are no classes at Berkeley the week of May 2!"
See her tweet below:
At this point, it seems inevitable that we will continue to see even more protests and an escalation of violent confrontations between both sides of the political spectrum in Berkeley.
Will the next skirmish involve knives or perhaps guns?
Will somebody be killed because the police won't intervene and do their duty to protect citizens?
Is Mayor Arreguín truly looking out for the best interest of ALL his city's inhabitants, or does he have an ulterior agenda that includes bias and radicalism?
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