House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) denounced the radical leftist group "Antifa" and its violence in Berkeley, Calif. over the weekend.
The black-clad, masked, so-called "anti-fascists" attacked and assaulted members of a peaceful right-wing protest in Berkeley. The famed college town has seen other far-left violence this year in response to conservative speakers appearing on campus.
In a statement published to her official website, Pelosi said the "perpetrators should be arrested and prosecuted."
"Our democracy has no room for inciting violence or endangering the public, no matter the ideology of those who commit such acts," Pelosi said in her statement. "The violent actions of people calling themselves Antifa in Berkeley this weekend deserve unequivocal condemnation, and the perpetrators should be arrested and prosecuted."
Pelosi, whose district is in San Francisco, mentioned in her statement that California and the rest of the U.S. have respect for the Constitutional right to peaceful dissent and free speech, highlighting that "non-violence is fundamental to that right."
"Let us use this sad event to reaffirm that we must never fight hate with hate," Pelosi’s statement said.