Brutal Footage From the Berkeley Protest Is Almost too Awful to Watch

While there have been many protests across the nation over the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, most have petered out by now. Only the demonstrations in Berkeley are still ongoing, although they too are finally coming to an end. As I wrote about yesterday, both sides of the conflict have engaged in shortsighted and destructive tactics to achieve their goals. Neither the cops, the protesters, nor the looters, should win a medal for the actions they have taken over the past few days.

But it should be noted that the actions taken by the protesters and looters, did not emerge from a vacuum. While I believe the way they vented their anger was completely unethical and non-constructive, we should not forget where this anger came from. There probably wouldn’t have been any looting or vandalism, had the police not reacted the way they did last Saturday.

Fortunately, there were plenty of witnesses to the despicable acts of brutality by the Berkeley Police Police Department. Brace yourself, because this footage is almost too terrible to watch.