@Gilberto
Yes, it could very well be anarchists, as they have been linked to other events like this.
https://www.thenation.com/article/anti- ... e-streets/
But, it really doesn't matter. 95% of the population won't do enough research to understand the difference between the majority of the protesters and these people. Everyone thinks these protesters are always an organized group with a chain of command, but mostly they are not. Bad actors always take advantage of this cover.
This appears to document the anarchist anti-fascist group. Per the Berkeley police Chief:
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-m ... story.html
On Thursday, UC Berkeley Police Chief Margo Bennett blamed the problems on so-called black bloc protesters who marched onto campus in military fashion, brandishing clubs, high-grade fireworks, baseball bats and homemade shields.
“We had a controlled environment up until the moment when the black bloc arrived,” Bennett said.
Black bloc protesters, who dress in all black and keep their faces covered with bandannas, have become a fixture of Bay Area demonstrations in the past decade, particularly in Oakland. They tend to attach themselves to peaceful protests before breaking out to start shattering windows and vandalizing property.
@IlliniDave
I did a quick search for "university of california to punish conservative student group" along with a few variations of that and found nothing relating to the event at Cal.
It appears the conservative group themselves canceled the event:
The cancellation of his talk at UC Davis sparked debate about the limits of free speech and hate speech. Davis College Republicans decided it was unsafe to continue the event after a large number of protesters blocked access to the venue, according to a release from the school.
And, Berkley admin was letting it go on:
So far, the UC system has resisted calls to cancel Yiannopoulos’ talks. At noon, just hours before Wednesday’s event, Berkeley administrators issued a statement saying they were committed to tolerance as well as free speech.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-m ... story.html
Other large news organizations like NBC and Fox both just said, "UC Berkely cancels event", but that sounds like lazy reporting. Not that it couldn't have been the school. The police were probably pushing for it to be canceled after that group showed up, but by not being more specific NBC and others just sound like they didn't do the work.