Prosecutors in San Diego filed charges against at least 10 anti-fascist protesters who allegedly tried to disrupt a pro-Trump rally earlier this year with “violent criminal acts.”
“Video evidence analysis shows that overwhelmingly the violence in this incident was perpetrated by the Antifa affiliates and was not a mutual fray with both sides crossing out of lawful First Amendment expression into riot and violence,” District Attorney Summer Stephan’s office said in a news release, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.
The defendants “are self-identified to be affiliated with Anti-fascists or Antifa” and gathered on Jan. 9 in San Diego to take “direct action” against a pro-Trump “Patriot March,” according to the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office. “Direct action” is defined as “acts of violence such as assault, battery, assault with deadly weapons, arson, and vandalism,” according to the DA’s office. Police declared an unlawful assembly the day of the clashes.
