Hundreds of people had gathered in Civic Center Park. Normally, by the end of tax filing season, the sitting president publicly releases his tax return, but there is no sign President Trump plans to follow that tradition.
The rally, one of many held across the country, was sponsored by the pro-Trump group Liberty Revival Alliance.
Police had erected a light, neon-orange plastic barricade between the two sides to separate the groups and were collecting sticks, flagpoles and other objects that protesters had brought, which were banned at the park in advance of the protest.
Trump supporters got the bright idea to plan a rally at noon to counter-protesters who showed up a few hours earlier for the Tax March. It was an ironic reference to a commercial that featured the soft drink dissipating tensions at a protest and was withdrawn after it was called insensitive.
For the third time this year, Trump supporters and Antifa clashed on the streets of Berkeley, California.
City officials said, "Mass gatherings of any kind attract a broad variety of people and, inevitably, that means an array of different motives and intentions".
US Sen. Dianne Feinstein faces boos, cheers at town hall
You've got to work something out. "You can sit here and pound your fists and I can show you what I've gotten done". Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.) said that she was "not there" on single-payer health care at a town hall on Monday.
"Organizers have promoted Saturday's gathering as a follow-up to an unpermitted March 4 demonstration, when numerous people were hurt due to violence", the city's announcement says. "We have the right to freedom of speech", Morris said.
The City of Berkeley Police Department posted on its Twitter account images showing some "prohibited items", including a knife, removed from the site in the downtown park area.
Police formed a line between Trump supporters and anti-Trump protesters with the plan to confiscate weapons. Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters, of California, said there's nothing to prevent Trump from releasing his income taxes and that "the simple truth is he's got a lot to hide".
Police arrested two people associated with the March 4 protest. Ilene Singh said she and her friend, Geraldine Markowitz, took a bus from New Jersey to join the crowd and "say we care" about Trump's taxes.
Protesters are expected to take part in Tax Day demonstrations nationwide, calling on President Donald Trump to release his tax returns.
In February, the University of California at Berkeley cancelled a scheduled talk by former Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos after intense violence and vandalism broke out on campus.
Comments