Organizers of far-right rallies in San Francisco and Berkeley cancel weekend events

Ciiting potential violence, organizers of right-wing rallies this weekend in San Francisco and Berkeley have canceled the events, but officials in both cities were still preparing for clashes between demonstrators and counter-protesters.

Joey Gibson, founder of the Patriot Prayer group, had planned to hold a “Freedom Rally” at Crissy Field Beach in San Francisco. He told The Times last week that his group was not “white supremacist” but that he feared extreme or racist figures might try to co-opt his event, a concern shared by experts who track hate groups.

“You’ve got two different people in this world right now. You have people that are trying to change hearts and minds of people, and you have people who are trying to divide the country,” Gibson said.

By Friday, he decided the rhetoric about his rally had grown too heated, and he had no way to control who showed up. He canceled the Saturday afternoon event and said he would hold a news conference in Alamo Square instead.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-sf-rally-cancelled-20170825-story.html