November 21 2019 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Refuse Fascism, Bay Area 510.926.8144
Media contact: Mari Matsuoka 323.574.3997
RefuseFascism.org
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram: @RefuseFascism
Press Conference:
Arrestees Speak Out: “UC Berkeley: Stop Facilitating Fascism. All the Charges Against Us Should Be Dropped !”
White Supremacist Ann Coulter Met with Mass Student Protest
What: PRESS CONFERENCE:
When: Friday November 22 1:00 pm
Where: Bancroft at Telegraph, Berkeley
Speakers:
Brandy, student and Refuse Fascism activist, arrested, brutalized & jailed for speaking loudly inside Ann Coulter event
Stephanie, UC student, arrested outside Wheeler Hall
Hoku Jeffrey, Organizer with BAMN
Alex Hernandez, member of Refuse Fascism and the Revolution Club
Other Speakers TBA
Over 2 thousand students at UC Berkeley came out in mass protest against a speech by Ann Coulter. They linked arms and blocked doorways, making entry very difficult for Coulter’s hardcore followers. Chants rang out: “Trump’s unleashing racist hate, he’s building up a police state, Trump/Pence #OutNow!” and “Ann Coulter wants ethnic cleansing, we say no!”
“This outpouring from UC Berkeley students should be an inspiration for students across the country. Ann Coulter is a Nazi,” said Atlas Winfrey, of Refuse Fascism. “She’s part of a parade of fascists who are speaking on college campuses across the country building a fascist student movement.”
“Coulter came to UC Berkeley to promote the myths of ‘white genocide’ and spread anti-immigrant terror,” Winfrey continued. “This assault on immigrants by the Trump/Pence regime is the linchpin and battering ram of a broader fascist agenda. Coulter is part of a fascist movement pushing Trump to move further and faster.”
Inside the event, when Coulter started talking about Trump’s white supremacist wall, two people spoke up, including a student and member of Refuse Fascism who called out: “You want to make America white again! You are a f*ing racist Ann, you are a f*ing Nazi.” For this, she was dragged out, brutally arrested, and held in jail overnight on trumped up charges.
Alex Hernandez, from Refuse Fascism and the Revolution Club, LA said, “The UC Campus hosted the equivalent of a Nazi rally, rolling out the red carpet and paying exorbitant security costs for people fighting for a white ethno-state. Meanwhile, Trump holds Nuremberg-style rallies across the country whipping up a social base who are preparing for civil war – all while trampling over the rule of law, gutting civil liberties and the right to protest. This IS fascism unfolding and, just like we did in Berkeley yesterday, we have to come together to stop it, to drive these fascists off our campuses and out of power.”
“This kind of mass protest needs to spread, growing broader and more determined.” said Hernandez, “It’s the only way we’re going to stop a Trump/Pence fascist catastrophe. We need to be in the streets, ultimately in our millions, in mass, sustained, non-violent protest until our single unifying demand is met: Trump/Pence #OutNow!”
Seven people were arrested. The student with Refuse Fascism who spoke up inside Wheeler Auditorium was brutalized by the UCPD, posted bond on $60,000 bail (a GoFundMe campaign has been set up to raise these funds).
Facebook Live video of the disruption.
Other articles and coverage:
Protesters Arrested as ‘Thousands’ of Students Rally Against Ann Coulter Speech, Berkeley: ‘She’s a Fascist’ Newsweek, Chantal Da Silva, November 21 2019
Arrests Made After More than a Thousand Protest Ann Coulter Speech
The Guardian, Lois Beckett, November 21, 2019
Thousands Protest Speaking Event By Author Ann Coulter
SF Gate, Bay City News Service, Scott Morris, November 21, 2019
Protest Ann Coulter, Campaigning for Ethnic Cleansing in Service of Trump/Pence Fascist Regime Refuse Fascism, November 19, 2019
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