Man Arrested In Attack On Conservative Activist At UC Berkeley

[Jose Garcia]

Source: KPIX-TV

BERKELEY (CBS SF) — A man being sought for the assault of a conservative activist on the University of California, Berkeley campus last month has been arrested.

A statement from UC Berkeley Public Affairs said a warrant was issued for suspect Zachary Greenberg and UC police arrested him Friday, booking him into jail at 1 p. m.

Greenberg was identified as one of two men who confronted a conservative activist who had set up a table in Sproul Plaza. Hayden Williams, volunteer with conservative group Talking Points USA was displaying signs that read, “Hate Crimes Hoaxes Hurt Real Victims” – a reference to the Jussie Smollett case – and another saying “This is MAGA Country.”

Greenberg was seen on video landing two punches on Williams – one a glancing blow and another much harder directly on his face.

Read more: https://www.google.com/amp/s/sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2019/03/01/conservative-activist-attack-uc-berkeley-arrest/amp/

---

Protip: This is not the best way to win an argument.

[SergeStorms]

1. "This is not the best way to win an argument."

Sometimes with the cult of Trump it's the only way. For most of them, force is all they understand. You certainly can't appeal to their intellect.

[Power 2 the People]

2. Reminds me of the crying Nazi. Big tough guy until he faces consequences of his hate.

[DorothyG]

9. Was this about Trump?

or Jussie Smollett?

[yerop]

15. Don't you see this stupid violence plays right into the hands of the RW and KGOP?

Expect to see this all over FOX & RW media this weekend to pursue their brainwashing mantras about violent leftists, persecuted conservatives, that the left has no arguments, that RWers are the victims.

[SergeStorms]

16. Read my post again.

I said sometimes it's the only way. Tell you what, you go talk to them, be nice, and see where that gets you. Appeal to their intellect and the better angels of their nature. If you don't feel like punching their lights out after a few hours of talking to a Trumpanzee you're not human. They just love it when Democrats don't fight back. And we'll continue to lose elections.

[The Grand Illuminist]

65. And it is still going today

It takes great sacrifice. Something this side lacks unfortunately.

[Honeycombe8]

19. Only a thug or someone who doesn't have truth on his side behaves that way.

It's also not smart. Because it's a crime, and it solves nothing. In this case, it got the so-called victim national attention. Way to go, smart guy. You just elevated a nobody to national martyr status.

[yaesu]

3. Well, since he is obviously taking koch brother money, getting ones ass kicked is just

part of the job hazards. I'm sure he has "yuge" insurance.

[deurbano]

4. As usual, neither are Berkeley students.

[bluestarone]

5. And where do they go?

YEP FOX LYING NEWS!

[Jose Garcia]

6. The source is a CBS affiliate, not Fox

[bluestarone]

7. True BUT

He was also on video FOX NEWS.

[Jose Garcia]

8. The assailant, Zachary Greenberg was on Fox News?

[bluestarone]

10. The conservative activist was.

[dustyscamp]

11. Just more fuel for the MAGA crazies

[jcmaine72]

12. Argument? It didn't look like much of an argument to me.

A Nazi Trumpling tried to peddle his white supremacist bilge and got his coeardly, pasty ass kicked.

Violence is may not be the answer to racism and hate, but it's an understandable byproduct.

[struggle4progress]

13. Advice: Don't let the Nazis successfully troll you

[DirtEdonE]

14. Turning Point USA

"Turning Point USA is an American right wing, nonprofit organization. Since 2016, Turning Point USA has maintained a Professor Watchlist that lists college professors it alleges discriminate against conservative students and advance left-wing propaganda in the classroom."

These people are nothing more than nazi youth 2019. My dad fought the nazis in Europe in WWII. I don't have to tell you what he and his generation would have done to these punk ass nazi youth scum.

They would have been happy with a punch in the face.

Good job, Zachary Greenberg. Like the cops always say, you didn't see what happened before the video began. It looks like it was a case of pure self-defense to me.

I'm sure any true American on an American jury would agree.

[Jedi Guy]

21. I wouldn't agree that it was self-defense.

Based on what I've seen of this incident, I'd convict this guy of assault.

I guess I'm not a true American then, eh? I don't believe in responding with violence to speech I don't like, so where should I go to turn in my passport?

[DirtEdonE]

23. Good job, Zachary Greenberg.

Like the cops always say, you didn't see what happened before the video.

There were Germans who refused to recognize their true enemies until it was too late and they were all consumed while they were trying to play fair.

Just sayin'. It CAN happen here and it is happening here. Time for niceties is rapidly running out.

[Jedi Guy]

24. If you want to justify thuggery, go right ahead. Just don't expect applause for it.

Going down the road of "the ends justify the means" never ends well. Wrong is still wrong, no matter how noble one's intentions may be. If you think that violence is an acceptable response to speech, you're no better than those you oppose.

[DirtEdonE]

32. Of this, I have none:

[Jedi Guy]

34. Okay then, so you're no better than those you oppose. N/T

[DirtEdonE]

37. These days I'm much more interested in

defeating these fucking traitors who took over our country than I am in etiquette.

My father fought the nazis in Europe in WWII. I never got to know him but I know what he and my uncles and their friends would do to nazis anywhere they found them - the same thing they did to them in WWII.

If my father and uncles and all the other GIs were concerned back then with proper etiquette we'd all be speaking German right now.

I was only a toddler when they used to say, "The only good nazi ..." - and etiquette just didn't get the job done. I'll be whatever I have to be to defeat them again since my dad wouldn't understand why we're allowing them to take over our nation after all he and his generation sacrificed.

Just my opinion. Borne by history.

I find that when I get into these back and forth "discussions" I invariably piss someone off enough to report me to the mods, it's happened twice already. I guess that's the way some people "win" an argument so this will be my last back and forth in this thread.

wenn Sie mich fragen.

[Jedi Guy]

39. I'm not going to report you to the mods.

Thus far, all I've seen from you is "blah blah blah" to justify your thirst for violence against those with whom you disagree. You've spat out a load of hollow rhetoric to justify the unjustifiable. That's not worthy of reporting to the mods. It is, however, worthy of scorn and derision. Just because you're enthusiastically willing to become what you hate doesn't mean the rest of us are.

[DirtEdonE]

41. I'm not saying you will report me

But it seems I have a "follower" here who has reported me twice already.

[Jedi Guy]

42. Ah, I see what you mean. N/T

[LanternWaste]

48. I love the smell of self-righteousness.

[Jedi Guy]

49. Wondered when you'd show up.

Good to know that in these tumultuous times, some things can still be relied upon, just like clockwork.

[bitterross]

27. Did you see what happened before the video began?

I have not yet. So, I'd have to know what happened before the video began to make a judgement.

[Jedi Guy]

31. That's why I said "based on what I've seen of this incident."

In any case, unless the other guy threw the first punch, Greenberg is still in the wrong. You can't just assault someone because you don't like what they have to say. If we allow violence to become an acceptable response to objectionable/controversial speech, we're in a world of trouble.

[DirtEdonE]

40. "You can't just assault someone because you don't like what they have to say."

Oh, really? Maybe someone should explain that to the nazis.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/white-supremacist-is-guilty-in-charlottesville-parking-garage-beating-of-black-man/2018/05/01/033396b4-4af9-11e8-8b5a-3b1697adcc2a_story.html?utm_term=.a596eb766da0

https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2018/08/10/charlottesville-video-a-year-later-orig-mss-tc.cnn

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/12/charlottesville-far-right-crowd-with-torches-encircles-counter-protest-group

[Jedi Guy]

43. If it's wrong when they do it, it's wrong when we do it.

It really is just that simple. You can't behave the same way as those you label "evil" and still claim the moral high ground. Recall the quote about those who fight monsters and how that can change them. Just like when we were kids, the "but he did it first!" excuse doesn't hold water.

[DirtEdonE]

44. Of course but if they keep getting away with it

We lose.

I'm afraid Ghandi would lose in America today.

[Jedi Guy]

45. Whether or not they get away with it isn't relevant to the question of morality.

The jackwagon who killed Heather Heyer was convicted. The jackwagons who beat the guy in the parking garage were convicted. They didn't "get away" with anything. And even if they did, that's not an excuse for us to behave the same way. You simply cannot claim the moral high ground while behaving in immoral or evil ways.

Again, if you're willing to become like those you oppose, how are you any better than they are? The answer is simple: you aren't. If you're willing to jettison all your principles in order to claim victory, then that's a Pyrrhic victory at best.

[FiveGoodMen]

61. If an enemy attacks (firing as they come over the hill)

and you shoot back...

Your friend grabs your gun away and says, "if it's wrong when they do it, it's wrong when we do it!"

You die and lose the war, but no one can say you weren't fair-minded.

[Jedi Guy]

62. You're comparing apples to oranges.

The example you give is clearly self-defense. The example in question from the article was not self-defense. Greenberg was the aggressor in that he took a verbal confrontation and made it physical. The two situations are nothing alike.

I stand by what I said. I'm not willing to jettison my principles in the name of victory. If you are, that's your choice, but be prepared for the consequences of that choice.

[bitterross]

46. "Based on what I've seen of this incident, I'd convict this guy of assault." was what you said.

That's the whole quote from you. Don't leave parts out to try to cover what you really said. That's not being honets.

[Jedi Guy]

47. I left that part out because it wasn't relevant.

You asked if I'd seen anything else, and I pointed out that was why I said the bit I'd quoted. I stand by what I said. Absent any other information, I'd convict based on what I've seen.

[lunasun]

51. They are not only in colleges but high schools too.

directory
https://www.tpusa.com/chapters/chapterdirectory/

[tymorial]

52. Nazi youth? Really?

[MrScorpio]

17. Beating up MAGAts is counterproductive

It plays into their victimhood narrative.

It's best to not beat up the photo-fascist motherfuckers, unless they throw the first punch.

[7wo7rees]

18. Clicked the link just to see the second punch

[Jedi Guy]

20. Good, he deserves to be arrested.

You can't just pop off and slug someone because you don't like their views. All he accomplished was to give the other guy a bigger megaphone and a nice victim card he can play over and over again.

The fact that so many people seem to be okay with this, or are even glad that it happened, is really disconcerting. If it's fair game for us to punch them because we find their views repulsive, then how can we complain when the situation is reversed?

[Adrahil]

22. Meh.

Break the law, face the consequences. But these assholes have GOT to know that when push comes to shove, we will NOT go quietly into the night!

[Jedi Guy]

25. Both sides can play at that game, though.

And eventually shove will give way to something more drastic and deadly, because violence always escalates. There are some principles that I personally am not willing to set aside in the name of victory. You can't selectively decide when principles apply and when they don't. Doing so makes one a hypocrite, and no better than those we oppose.

[Adrahil]

36. They already do. And until recently, thought we would not push back. NT

[Jedi Guy]

38. There's a world of difference between aggression and self-defense.

This was aggression, from everything I've seen. Greenberg was the aggressor and threw the first punch. If the other guy had swung first, then Greenberg absolutely has a right to defend himself. But no one has the right to beat the hell out of someone else because they don't like their views, and that's what's at issue here.

[exboyfil]

28. I am shocked and disheartened by it

As for controversial speakers, why don't the top rhetoricians at universities engage these clowns. Universities should set up a mechanism for stage time for rebuttals.

[Jedi Guy]

33. It's the hypocrisy of it that really irritates me.

If the political positions in this incident had been reversed, everyone here would be howling for Greenberg to be arrested for assault. Instead, they're cheering him on. Hell, on another thread a few months ago, the "Liberal Lion" advocated murder as an acceptable possible response to objectionable speech. That's just pants-on-head insane.

Tyrion Lannister may be a fictional character, but he was absolutely right when he said, "When you tear out a man's tongue, you are not proving him a liar, you're only telling the world you fear what he might say." Whenever a conservative speaker is prevented from speaking by riots and violence, it allows them to make that very claim. Let them have their say, then, as you suggest, counterpoint and rebut everything they have to say.

[exboyfil]

35. I was shocked at the number of Rhetoric

professors that signed one of the Berkeley letters to prevent a speaker. They should have been requesting time to rebut instead. In theory these should be some of the finest communicators in the nation - teaching at a top tier university in this subject.

I am convinced their are some agent provocateurs mixed into these protest groups.

[exboyfil]

26. Get your own booth

and present your arguments. This just feeds the beast.

Of course our side just has no name somebody punching someone. The GOP has a sitting Representative who assaulted a reporter and was praised for it by the leader of their party.

[bitterross]

29. What took place BEFORE the video began? Anyone know/have a link?

All I see is a video of two people fighting. I don't see who started it or why.

I'd like a little more information before I rush to judgement.

[RelativelyJones]

30. If Greenberg's debating skills are so poor that he has to throw punches then he is an idiot.

[orangecrush]

50. Das ist NICHT FAIR!

[stonecutter357]

53. russian/cricist actors ?

[pintobean]

55. Well, I don't think they're Nigerian.

[stonecutter357]

57. Is this whataboutism ?

[pintobean]

58. Did you read the OP?

[pintobean]

63. The Alameda County DA charged him with two counts of felony assault

one count of committing a verbal threat and a misdemeanor vandalism charge.

https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2019/03/05/suspect-charged-with-felony-assault-in-attack-of-uc-berkeley-conservative-activist/

I guess that's act 2 and the DA is in cahoots with them.

[pintobean]

54. Good

Assault is wrong and dangerous.

[tymorial]

56. I will never get behind violence as a reaction to differing opinion

Reacting violently to someone who is saying something you disagree with is how despots and autocrats behave. We should be better. And yeah I get being tired of the high road. It isnt an excuse. No one said progress was easy.

[Mz Pip]

59. How is this UC Berkeley's fault.

Neither were students. So a couple of random guys with opposing opinions throw some punches on the public campus and this becomes Berkeley’s problem?

[Blue_Tires]

60. Fuck 'im, he's not even a student....

But having said that, giving Williams the ink and martyr complex he was so desperately begging for was not smart.

[jcmaine72]

64. Zachary Greenberg charged with three felonies today.

https://www.berkeleyside.com/2019/03/05/oakland-man-charged-with-3-felonies-in-uc-berkeley-assault-case

IMO, he has been grossly overcharged. And no, I'm not condoning what he did, but that video makes clear there are mitigating circumstances.