The American Jewish Committee (AJC) is urging the Alameda County District Attorney and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to launch criminal investigations into a disturbing anti-Jewish riot that unfolded at UC Berkeley on Monday evening during an event featuring an Israeli speaker.
Reports indicate that a mob attempted to break into the building, breaking a door and window in the process. Attendees were subjected to spitting and antisemitic hate speech, prompting swift condemnation from AJC Chief Legal Officer Marc Stern. In letters addressed to Alameda County DA Pamela Price and DOJ Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Kristen Clarke, Stern calls for a thorough investigation into the incident.
“The tactics adopted by the rioters at Berkeley are more reminiscent of the tactics of the Brownshirts or Communists in the inter-war period than they are of Berkeley’s free speech movement of the 1960s. They should be treated accordingly. Political violence should not be tolerated, no matter what point on the political compass it springs from,” states Stern in his letter to DA Price.