In a “Rally Against Hate,” hundreds of anti-fascists made their way to Berkeley in a counter-demonstration against the white supremacist who had called for a “No to Marxism in America” protest, which they later officially canceled.

However, the neo-Nazi-type rally was soon engulfed by anti-racist solidarity actions that filled the streets of the Bay Area in a series of protests.

Members of local groups and organizations insisted that they would continue their protest on the university campus, despite police warnings that they shouldn’t converge on the area.

In Civic Center Park in Berkeley, over 4,000 counter-protesters outnumbered right-wing demonstrators including at least one protester who wore a shirt celebrating Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and his “Dirty War” campaign where leftists were thrown from helicopters into the Atlantic Ocean.

Elsewhere in the city, police erected barricades in the downtown area and had the location swept for explosives.

Later in the day, police barricades evaporated after about a hundred members of a militant anti-fascist contingent stormed the park. About five right-wing ralliers were involved in altercations with the group while Joey Gibson, the head of the white supremacist-aligned Patriots Prayer, was maced before retreating and eventually getting detained by Berkely Police officers.

Police pulled another man from the march as he took part in a shouting match against the anti-fascists, who surrounded him and attempted to drive him from the park while chanting, “Nazi go home.”

Several demonstrators on both sides were reportedly arrested for their role in the melee or for bringing banned items such as masks to the event.