Local News Anchor Tells of 'Experiencing Hate Firsthand' from Antifa at Berkeley Protest

August 31st, 2017 10:52 PM

It’s amazing, but someone in the media actually wrote something about how awful Antifa is – and gave a firsthand account. Frank Somerville, anchors the 5, 6, and 10 p.m. news on KTVU in San Francisco, posted about the following experience he had at a Berkeley protest.

On his Facebook page, Somerville posted an article on how he “experienced hate firsthand” and “…it came from these people dressed in all black at a protest in Berkeley. Ironically they were all chanting about no hate.”

No kidding. People have been saying this since President Trump’s inauguration. Antifa isn’t a warm and cozy group – they’re just as awful as the neo-Nazi groups they claim to protest.

Somerville described Antifa as having shields and gloves, helmets and gas masks. Of course they sound scary or a bit intimidating, but he wanted to “take it all in” dressed only in shorts and a tank top. At one point, he took out his phone to take photos, in which the following altercation happened, full of “venom, anger hate and intolerance.” (Intolerance!? I thought the left prided themselves on being the tolerant ones!)

“Them: Hey! No pictures or we'll take your phone!

(At that point I'd already taken these shots)

Me (In calm voice): You're on public property and I can take a picture if I want to.

Them: Oh, so you're a big man with a camera?

Me: No I just wanted to take a picture and talk with you.

Them (rushing toward me): We outnumber you and we will take your camera!

Me: You're not going to take my camera and you're not going to tell me what to do. Why can't we just have a respectful conversation?

(I then touched one of them on her hand to say it's okay I just want to talk.)

Them: Don't touch me!

Me: I'm not trying to do anything. I just want to try to understand and have a respectful conversation.

Them: We'll block your shot!

Me: That's fine. All I wanted to do was have a conversation.

Them: Now is not the time.”

Somerville went on to say that a woman began screaming at him saying they weren’t interested in talking to him.

He writes that he was stunned, growing up in Berkeley he marched against the war during the Sixties. “It's one thing to read about hate. It's another thing to be right next to it. In my opinion, these people dressed in black are just as hateful and intolerant as the people they are protesting against.” 

Somerville experienced what pro-Trump protesters experience on a daily basis – he just didn’t realize it.

Eventually he came across other protesters that stood up for him and he was touched by this gesture. (Why a man would actually admit to that is beyond me.) Sommerville described the disappointment the other protesters were feeling, that it was “the people dressed in black” that hijack the protests, which he agreed.

Most of the people out there in Berkeley were non-violent. They were there for the cause. They just wanted to come out and stand up against hate. I totally support them.

But I do not support extremists, whether they are on the right or the left.

Hate is hate.

And I experienced it firsthand today.

It was sad to see.

Yes Mr. Somerville, it is sad to see. Even sadder is how the media turns their cheek to the antics of Antifa.