Berkeley Electrician Featured in Deadly Virginia Rally

A Berkeley resident, Johnny “Monoxide” Ramondetta, was associated with last weekend’s “Unite the Right” rally in Virginia. The electrician and podcast host was scheduled to speak at Saturday’s protest. Meanwhile, San Francisco and Berkeley are bracing for rallies on Aug. 26 and 27 respectively. “The First Amendment is very important to us. Freedom of expression is something that we value. But it does not give you a constitutional right to shout ‘fire’ in a crowded theater. They are endangering people. They must be stopped,” said House Minority Speaker Nancy Pelosi, urging the National Park Service to deny organizing group Patriot Prayer’s request for a permit for Saturday’s protest at Crissy Field. Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin echoed the same sentiment, stressing that “no permit was issued” for Sunday’s gathering. “Honestly, if they sought a permit I would say that that permit should be denied because we know that they’re not here for free speech, they’re here for violent provocation,” he said. Sans permit, though, the group “No to Marxism in America” continues to insist that several hundred people will show up at Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park beginning at 1 p.m. Watch NBC Bay Area reporter Sam Brock’s entire report in the video above.