Freedom isn't free? Berkeley pays $600G to protect Shapiro
U.C. Berkeley spends $600,000 to protect conservative commentator Ben Shapiro from campus protests; reaction and analysis from Hugo Gurdon, editorial director for The Washington Examiner, and Ben Kamisar, staff writer for The Hill
Berkeley Police released the mugshots and identification of five of the nine people arrested Thursday night protesting at the University of California, Berkeley during an appearance by conservative speaker Ben Shapiro.
Four of the five people identified were arrested for carrying a "banned weapon."
Sarah Roark, 44, of San Francisco, Michael Paul Sullivan, 29, of Hayward and Eddy Robinson, 44, of Oakland, were all arrested for carrying a banned weapon.
Hannah Benjamin, 20, of Fremont, was also arrested for carrying a banned weapon but she was accused of battery on a police officer, too. Kerem Celik, 18, of Saratoga, was arrested for “disturbing the peace.”
It was not immediately clear what weapons the protesters were accused of carrying, nor was it known if any were members of Antifa. Weapons seized in the past from Antifa extremists have included bricks, hammers, bats, knives, scissors and chains.
A picture was circulating on Twitter purporting to show Roark photographed with Hillary Clinton. In the alleged photo of Roark, the woman is wearing a pin from Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign. It was not clear at what event the picture was taken or how Roark allegedly came to meet the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee.
BEN SHAPIRO SPEECH AT UC BERKELEY RESULTS IN ARRESTS AT PROTESTS
It was not immediately clear if those arrested were still in custody. Calls to police were not immediately returned.
UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof said security measures for the event may have cost $600,000. Mogulof called the speech “a successful event” and said the university was interested in hosting speakers similar to Shapiro, a former Breitbart.com editor, in the future.
Shapiro retweeted the mugshots of those arrested and wrote: “A lineup of life’s winners.”
UC Berkeley had expected protests ahead of Shapiro’s speech. The officers were allowed to be armed with pepper spray at the protest -- the first time in two decades officers could carry the spray.
BEN SHAPIRO SPEECH AT UC BERKELEY RESULTS IN ARRESTS AT PROTESTS
Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, author Milo Yiannopoulos and conservative commentator Ann Coulter are also slated to speak on the campus in the coming weeks.
Yiannopoulos was set to appear at the campus in February, but his event was canceled after protests turned violent. Protesters smashed windows of businesses and marred walls with graffiti.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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