Issue link: http://www.epageflip.net/i/814497
ByScottSmith The Associated Press FRESNO The suspect in this week's racially moti- vated shooting rampage in Fresno shouted Friday that natural disasters will in- creasingly hit the United States as he was ushered into a cramped courtroom for his first appearance be- fore a judge. Kori Ali Muhammad, 39, was supposed to be of- ficially informed about the first-degree murder charge he is accused of in the shooting death of an un- armed security guard. Authorities have said he then killed three more peo- ple in the rampage, target- ing white victims, before he was caught. But the reading of the charge never happened be- cause Muhammad had an- other outburst, yelling "Let black people go" and a phrase similar to "in repa- rations" that was not clearly enunciated. His court appointed law- yer, Eric Christensen, then told the judge: "I believe this gentleman may not be men- tally competent to proceed." Muhammad yelled again and the judge canceled the proceedings, setting bail at $2.6 million and ordering a mental evaluation for Mu- hammad. Police have said Muham- mad told them that learn- ing he was wanted for the Williams' killing prompted him to try to kill as many white people as possible be- fore he was caught. He shot three other white men at random Tuesday, po- lice said, including a Pa- cific Gas & Electric utility worker sitting in a truck and two men who had come out of a Catholic Charities building. Muhammad fired 17 rounds in less than two minutes, police said. Offi- cers with help from acoustic sensors posted in the area arrested him less than five minutes after the rampage began. Muhammad said Wil- liams showed him disre- spect while Muhammad was visiting a woman at the motel, according to police. Prosecutors said they are waiting for investigators to finish compiling their case before filing charges related the other three victims. Christensen after the court hearing declined comment about his client or the authorities' case. SHOOTING RAMPAGE Fresno killings suspect shouts during court hearing FRESNOPOLICEDEPARTMENT Kori Ali Muhammad By Jocelyn Gecker The Associated Press BERKELEY The word "CANCELED" is printed across a poster of Ann Coul- ter's face at the University of California, Berkeley. But that appears to be wishful thinking. The campus is bracing for trouble next week, when the conservative provoca- teur has vowed to speak in defiance of the univer- sity's wishes. Officials, po- lice and even the campus Republicans who invited Coulter say there is reason to fear violence in what is being called the Battle for Berkeley. Berkeley's reputation as one of the country's most liberal universities, in one of America's most liberal cities, has made it a flash- point for the nation's polit- ical divisions in the era of Donald Trump. The campus and the city itself have become a tar- get for militant right-wing organizations that have clashed in recent months with militant left-wing or anarchist groups from the San Francisco Bay Area. Both favor hoods to con- ceal their identities and a variety of weapons, includ- ing Molotov cocktails, brass knuckles and soda cans filled with concrete. UC Berkeley has been synonymous with protest from the earliest days of the 1960s Free Speech Move- ment, when students fought for the right to speak out and set off a wave of cam- pus activism around the country. But officials say what they're seeing now does not involve students and is a new type of extremely vi- olent protest. "There is no doubt that over the last few months the city and campus have be- come a stage upon which national political conflicts are playing out," said uni- versity spokesman Dan Mo- gulof. "We are in new and challenging times. I don't think we've seen anybody who has cracked the code here." Last weekend, bloody street brawls broke out in downtownBerkeleyatapro- Trump protest that featured speeches by members of the white nationalist right. They clashed with a group of Trump critics who called themselves anti-fascists. Police arrested 20 peo- ple and said dozens were injured. They confiscated bats, knives, bear spray, pepper spray and other weapons, according to po- lice. Similar violent clashes also erupted at the same site, a public park, on March 4. And in February, protest- ers smashed campus win- dows, set fires and hurled firebombs at police, forcing the cancellation of a speech by right-wing writer Milo Yiannopoulos, who was also invited by the College Republicans. Police and the city have been criticized for not doing more to prevent the violence of the past few months but say that stepping in with full-scale riot forces could have led to more bloodshed. Campus Police Chief Capt. Alex Yao said police have learned lessons from the recent clashes and plan a different approach, which he would not disclose. Professor Lawrence Rosenthal, director of UC Berkeley's Center for Right- Wing Studies, said right- wing extremists see Berke- ley as an easy target for at- tention-grabbing combat. "Berkeley is a place of longtime left-wing protest," he said. The right-wing ex- tremists "want to make it a flashpoint." Berkeley police and uni- versity officials scrambled this week to cancel or delay Coulter's speech next Thurs- day, with Chancellor Nich- olas B. Dirks warning that law enforcement authori- ties have "very specific in- telligence" of threats "that could pose a grave danger" to Coulter and others. Yao, the campus police chief, said protesters bent on violence are planning to descend on Berkeley from around the state and other parts of the country. After attempting to call off the event and postpone it until September — which Coulter refused to do — Dirks offered her a new date of May 2 at what he called "an appropriate, protect- able venue." She rejected that, saying she "can't do May 2." More- over, she tweeted, "THERE ARE NO CLASSES AT BERKELEY THE WEEK OF MAY 2." The period is known as Dead Week, when students are studying for fi- nal exams. "I'm speaking at Berkeley on April 27th," she declared. It remains unclear where Coulter will speak. The event is being largely sub- sidized by the Young Amer- ica's Foundation, a conser- vative group. It is footing $17,000 of Coulter's $20,000 speaking fee. The Berkeley College Re- publicans said the universi- ty's actions amount to a ban on free speech that makes them more determined to have Coulter come. FREE SPEECH Battle for Berkeley: Will Ann Coulter spark another clash? ANDA CHU — SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS, FILE Pepper spray is used as anti and pro-Donald Trump protesters clash during competing demonstrations at Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park in Berkeley on April 15. | NEWS | REDBLUFFDAILYNEWS.COM SATURDAY, APRIL 22, 2017 6 B