Two students at University of California, Berkeley have been arrested on suspicion of hate crimes and vandalism after graffiti was discovered in Berkeley that read “fuck white people” and “kill cops.”
Ismael Chamu and Peter Estrada were arrested on Friday and Saturday, and both are under suspicion of “felony vandalism causing $400 or more in damage, the commission of a hate crime, hate crime enhancements and conspiracy,” Berkeleyside reports.
The development comes after a number of graffiti vandalism incidents were reported in the area, as well as several incidents of slashed tires.
Some graffiti read “Fuck white people,” “Class war,” and “kill cops” with an anarchist symbol.
Another graffiti drawing said, “Fuck liberal scum,” indicating an anarchist Antifa (antifascist) presence, as Antifa often target so-called “liberals” for not being radical enough.
The news also comes after Ismael Chamu had previously made headlines for being arrested and claiming it was due to racial profiling.
Chamu wrote a Facebook post that garnered attention from left-wing activists in early July. Chamu described being arrested and alleged it was an incident of racial profiling, saying, “I was kidnapped by armed agents. I was humiliated. I have been traumatized. I still feel shock and pain and anger. I am just glad to be free. At Least feel the illusion of freedom.”
“The Police racially profiled me for being Mexican. For looking like a ‘Burglar’ for appearing ‘Dangerous’,” he said.
However, Chamu left out several details of his arrest, reported by Berkeleyside:
BPD Chief Andrew Greenwood said Chamu and a second person were stopped shortly after 3 a.m. Wednesday in the 2300 block of Warring Street because police were looking for suspects in a burglary that had just happened. They were detained “because they matched the broadcast description” from a “‘hot prowl’ burglary” — where victims are inside at the time of the crime.
According to Greenwood, an officer saw Chamu duck behind a vehicle when he saw police, and appeared to set something down. Greenwood said an officer recovered a knife under that vehicle during the investigation. According to a photograph of the knife provided by BPD, it was a 6-inch knife with a 2.5-inch blade. Police arrested Chamu on suspicion of possession of an illegal weapon, the spring-loaded folding knife, said Greenwood. The young man was not identified in a line-up as one of the burglary suspects.
Chamu’s Facebook account led to Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin responding on Facebook, “Unacceptable that this happened.”
When contacted by Berkeleyside about Chamu’s arrest, he reportedly responded, “Without having specific facts from BPD, which I requested, but had not received at that time, I posted that comment. I probably should have phrased it differently maybe stating ‘if the allegations were true.’ I can see how people would perceive my comment to mean that I had jumped to conclusions.”
Arreguin has his own set of connections to violent left-wing groups, having been revealed to be affiliated with “By Any Means Necessary” (BAMN), a group which has been involved in protests, many of which turned violent.
The College Fix reported that Chamu’s Facebook posts indicated he was a radical leftist and was often hostile to police, white people, and gentrification.
“Wanna do something productive this Finals Week? Send all the white kids to wrong room on Finals day,” he wrote on Facebook.
He also said, “There are more serious issues in [sic] this campus than dehydrated white fuckboys and white fuckgirls at their shitty parties,” and wrote about wanting to “radicalize our Black and Brown youth.”
He also used his Facebook to express support for Antifa, writing, “God Bless Antifa #FuckTrump,” among other things.
Both Chamu and Estrada are currently being held on an $85,000 bail.
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