As reported by Berkeleyside, Eric Clanton had also been charged with causing great bodily injury and other counts, but quickly took a plea bargain deal that will keep him out of what could have – and should have – been a lengthy prison sentence.
How bad is this miscarriage of justice? The Alameda County Superior Court judge didn’t even charge him with the misdemeanor of wearing a mask during the commission of a crime.
As the news site reported further:
Eric Clanton had been linked by police to violent assaults with a metal bike lock during a “free speech” rally in Berkeley on April 15, 2017. Before his arrest, Clanton had been “outed” online, on the website 4chan, as someone who used a bike lock to strike a man in the head. The assault was captured in a video clip ... that drew widespread attention and anger after it was posted on YouTube.
Clanton was scheduled to have a hearing in court this week for judges to decide if there was enough evidence to proceed but instead the court posted online that a deal had been struck.
“The felony charges against him were dismissed, and an allegation that he had caused serious bodily injury was stricken. A misdemeanor charge that Clanton wore a mask during the commission of the crime also was dropped,” Berkeleyside reported.
Police had already noted that Clanton stood accused of attacking at least three people at the rally with a metal bike U-lock in and around the venue, Civic Center Park. Court papers would later say that Clanton struck at least seven people in the head with the lock, police noted. One of his victims received a laceration severe enough it had to be repaired with five staples. Another victim wasn’t injured but part of his helmet was broken off.
Police said that Clanton struck the third victim across the neck and back.
Violence begets violence
Investigating police officers later found evidence in Clanton’s home in San Leandro that tied him to “Anti-Fascists and Anarchy political groups” – domestic terrorists, in other words. Cops also found clothing and other paraphernalia tying Clanton to terror groups and to the rally.
But all he got was three years’ probation. (Related: National media refuses to report on left-wing Antifa mob violence breaking out in three U.S. cities over the weekend.)
In the summer of 2016, as then-GOP candidate Donald Trump was sailing to his party’s presidential nomination, he held massive rallies around the country that were often permeated by violence, especially in far-Left enclaves like California.
Antifa wasn’t that old at the time, but the loose-knit group had already developed a reputation with federal law enforcement. Even the Obama Department of Homeland Security and FBI recognized members for what they are – domestic terrorists.
Politico reported:
Federal authorities have been warning state and local officials since early 2016 that leftist extremists known as “antifa” had become increasingly confrontational and dangerous, so much so that the Department of Homeland Security formally classified their activities as “domestic terrorist violence,” according to interviews and confidential law enforcement documents…
Domestic terrorists. And Alameda County just let one of them go. Without a trial, no less.
Here’s the problem with allowing these thugs to get off scot-free when they’re obviously guilty of serious violent crimes: Antifa thugs will continue to commit serious violent crimes until someday, one of them will kill somebody. Or one of them will be killed by someone trying to defend themselves because violence begets violence.
Every judge, every court that excuses this behavior is contributing to the outbreak of the next civil war.
Read more about Antifa-related violence at Antifa.news.
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