House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi finally took a break from attacking Trump supporters Tuesday to condemn Antifa.
The violence in Berkeley over the weekend, which led to six injuries and 13 arrests, forced the California Democrat to issue a statement.
“Our democracy has no room for inciting violence or endangering the public, no matter the ideology of those who commit such acts,” Pelosi said. “The violent actions of people calling themselves antifa in Berkeley this weekend deserve unequivocal condemnation, and the perpetrators should be arrested and prosecuted.”
Initially she made no comment after the violence, only relaying to news outlets through a spokesman that she “has always emphasized the importance of ‘peaceful’ in the right to peaceful protest.” Antifa was not mentioned, however, and her latest statement condemning their violence appears to be the first time she’s even publicly acknowledged their existence.
“In California, as across all of our great nation, we have deep reverence for the Constitutional right to peaceful dissent and free speech,” Pelosi added. “Non-violence is fundamental to that right. Let us use this sad event to reaffirm that we must never fight hate with hate, and to remember the values of peace, openness and justice that represent the best of America.”
Other California Democrats are finally speaking out about antifa as well.
Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin told reporters after Saturday's Berkeley No to Marxism in America event that he believed it was time to "classify [antifa] as a gang."
“They come dressed in uniforms. They have weapons, almost like a militia, and I think we need to think about that in terms of our law enforcement approach,” Arreguin, a Democrat, told CBS5 in San Francisco.