After tweeting tacit encouragement to protesters who later wound up resorting to violence and destruction of property at UC Berkeley Wednesday night as Breitbart tech editor Milo Yiannopoulos was scheduled to speak, Berkeley mayor Jesse Arrequin hurriedly backed off, issuing a second tweet decrying such behavior.
Arreguin had initially tweeted:
But by Thursday morning, Arreguin had a different view:
Yiannopoulos was scheduled to speak to assert that federal grants to UC Berkeley be withdrawn and that UC President Janet Napolitano and Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks be prosecuted for their policies regarding illegal immigrants.
President Donald Trump has promised to punish sanctuary cities that refuse to comply with immigration law, which could cost Berkeley as much as 11.5 million dollars. Arreguin has defended Berkeley as a sanctuary city, tweeting:
On Thursday, President Trump responded to the violence at Berkeley by threatening to withdraw federal funds:
