The mayor of Berkeley, Jesse Arreguin, and the governor of California, Jerry Brown, are now on notice that a violent mob will try to shut down a scheduled speech by Ben Shapiro, a well-known conservative. These government executives are charged with the responsibility of maintaining public order and guaranteeing the constitutional rights to free speech and free assembly. They also know from personal experience that mob violence can be expected, because of the damage wright by armed and masked thugs who thwarted those rights in the case of Milo Yiannopoulos. The evidence of the planned disruption is telling. The paramilitary group Refuse Fascism openly labels – with no basis whatsoever – Shapiro as a “fascist” and “white supremacist.” These are the mental excuses their thugs use to justify in their own minds their violent repression of those with whom they disagree. They are laying the basis for violence. There is no question that the City...(Read Full Post)