On the night of March 18, anti-military radical protesters smashed the windows of the embattled Marines Recruiiting Office in Berkeley:

Windows were smashed and red paint was splashed Wednesday night on the Marine Corps recruiting center, which has been the target of protests for the past 18 months.

The incident, which came on the eve of the sixth anniversary of the Iraq war, was caught on tape by a surveillance camera about 8:55 p.m. at the center in downtown Berkeley, police said.
Police have not made any arrests but are reviewing the tape, Sgt. Mary Kusmiss said.
…
Police found a sledgehammer and a crowbar in a nearby garbage can that they are reviewing as evidence.

After breaking windows and defacing the Marine Corps logo at the center, the half-dozen vandals wearing dark clothing scattered in three different directions, police said. The suspects’ faces were covered, police said.

The photos above (courtesy of the San Jose Mercury News) were taken on the morning of Thursday, March 19, as the window was about to be replaced.

I went to Shattuck Square in Berkeley a few hours later to take pictures, and found that not only had the windows already been repaired, but — to my astonishment…

…the protesters were already back, brazenly demonstrating in front of the newly repaired windows, just a short time after they had been broken.

Pro-military counter-protesters got wind of the event and showed up as well, creating a defensive line around the office. (Notice the new window behind them; you can see in this photo I took last year during a previous incident that the window used to have a Marine Corps logo on it before it was broken.)

In an interview with The Daily Cal, Code Pink — one of the groups protesting — denied any responsibility for the window smashing, but added,

Joi said she did not know who was responsible for vandalizing the center, but that frustration with the Marines was understandable.

“It is not the right thing for us to do,” she said. “But I cannot tell (anyone) what the right thing is for (them) to do.”

In other words — we didn’t do it, but we don’t mind that it was done.

However, Code Pink wasn’t the only group there — World Can’t Wait was also on hand, and several apparently unaffiliated protesters — some of whom were masked, just like the attackers the night before. Hmmmmmm…

Note also the comical sign, “Racist ,Fa[s]cist, Pro War, Republican!” with an arrow pointing toward the center. Because, as everyone knows, no Democratic president has ever ordered the Marines into battle! They’re purely a Republican branch of the military.

The actual criminals themselves took a photo of their deed moments after smashing the window the night before, and posted it on IndyBay. Since IndyBay is likely to eventually redirect this link (they don’t like “outsiders” linking to their reports), here’s the text that accompanied the above photo:

At 9PM on March 18th, the eve of the 6th anniversary of the war in Iraq, a group of persons wearing masks smashed the windows and splattered red paint at the U.S. Marine Corps Recruiting Center in Berkeley, California.

The center has been the target of protests for the last 18 months, and stands as a symbol of U.S. militarism and imperialist wars. The act of property distruction stands alone as the embodyment of frustration of a people whos government does not listen to or care about them.

Police have not made any arrests but are reviewing the tape, said Sgt. Mary Kusmiss. A sledgehammer and a crowbar were found in a nearby garbage can nearby, and are being reviewing as evidence. After breaking windows and improving the Marine Corps logo at the center, the group wearing masks and dark clothing scattered in three different directions, police said.

As of the time of this posting, no one involved has been arrested. The act was easy. You and a few friends could have pulled it off any day.

NO MORE IMPERIALIST WARS!!!

NO MORE GOVERNMENT!!!

SMASH THE STATE!!!

Predictably, Cindy Sheehan showed up as well. This is sort of her default location; when she has nothing better to do, she drifts back to the Marines office in Berkeley.

The circus continued all afternoon. Were the perpetrators among the crowd? Probably. But since they had been wearing masks, there was no way to tell.