'A Sense of Relief' as Berkeley Protests Remain Mostly Peaceful

Updated Sept. 14, 2017, at 9:53 p.m.:

Despite worries about protests turning violent, the hundreds of people who swarmed the UC Berkeley campus on Thursday night remained peaceful, for the most part.

Dozens of police with riot gear surrounded the plaza in front of Zellerbach Hall, where Ben Shapiro, a former Breitbart editor, spoke as part of his "Campus Thuggery" tour.

"Things were orderly," said Margo Bennett, chief of the UC Berkeley Police Department. "People were respectful and interested. Crowd outside were loud at times but for the most part not violent."

According to police, no arrests were made on campus, and fewer than a half-dozen were made off campus. According to its official Twitter account, Berkeley police had arrested three people for carrying banned weapons, and one woman was also arrested on suspicion of battery of a police officer.

"I think it's safe to say there's a sense of relief on campus. Things went about as well as we expected," said UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof. "No regrets with assembling the forces we did. It certainly it didn't hurt deterring those who came with malicious intent."

Police confronted a handful of protestors who refused to leave the student union for a moment, but that resolved peacefully. The most heated moments came as the conservative-leaning crowd who came to watch the speech left the auditorium and encountered the left-leaning demonstrators outside.

San Mateo resident Zachary Bruno, 32, said that he attended to "support free speech."

Several streets around and on campus were closed off with concrete and plastic barriers to create a perimeter around the hall to keep the speech attendees and protesters away from each other. Sproul Hall was closed as well.

Eighteen-year-old high school senior Nick Handley says he tried to get others to come to Berkeley with him from Modesto, but says they were scared about the potential violence.

Tickets sold out for the event that was hosted by campus Republicans. Handley says the heavy police presence is sad, particularly since taxpayer money is being spent.

UC Berkeley spokesman Mogulof said the security could cost $600,000.

Protests began well before the speech. A small group of Refuse Fascism demonstrators spoke in front officers in riot gear who formed a line outside the campus store.

Police also confiscated signs, saying that wooden sticks could be used as weapons. Even infamous Bay Area demonstrator Frank Chu was not exempt.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.