Protesters in Berkeley, Calif. echoed marchers in Washington, D.C. and New York City calling for justice for unarmed blacks shot by white cops. Organizers worked hard to keep the protest peaceful after nights of destruction. Chris Wiggins for USA TODAY 
 
 Students protest on the UC Berkeley campus. (Photo: Chris Wiggins) 
 
 As thousands marched to end police brutality in Washington D.C., and New York City on Saturday, three cardboard cutouts of African-Americans were found hanging in effigy by nooses on the Berkeley campus of the University of California. 
 
 School spokeswoman Amy Hamaoui told the AP the effigies appear to be connected to a noon-time demonstration nearby planned to coincide with a national protest against police brutality. The effigies, two male and one female, included names of lynching victims and the dates of their death. Hamaoui said it's unclear who hanged the effigies and police are looking into the matter. "We are unsure of the intent," Hamaoui said. 
 
 As of late afternoon, no suspect had been identified. "It certainly could have been racially motivated, so we're taking it very seriously and are very interested in finding out who did this and what the intention was," UC Berkeley spokeswoman Claire Holmes tells USA TODAY. 
 
 Fusion.net reports the female effigy of a lynched woman was identified as Laura Nelson from 1911, and included the hashtag "#ICantBreathe. Police officers took two of the effigies down soon after the student learned of them at 9:10 a.m, Holmes says. Students took down the third. 
 
 Many on Twitter reacted with confusion and disgust. 
 
 "No one knows who put effigy up it was not CAL BSU students or ally," tweeted Michael McBride, pastor of the Way Christian Center in Berkeley, who walked with protesters. "The impact is the same: racial terror & it's unacceptable." 
 
 "This happened on the campus of the #1 Public Institution," wrote user @itsMumbeeezy. "Don't tell me that Racisim isn't alive." 
 
 User @WhoGonStopMePR wrote "whether intentions were good or bad, the delivery IS distasteful. As an AfAm alum, I DON't support this." 
 
 Hundreds of protesters in Berkeley, aided by the hashtags #berkeleyprotest and #Ferguson2Cal on Twitter, marched up and down Church street beginning at noon, chanting "the whole damn system is guilty as hell" and "I think that we will win." Police presence was minimal. 
 
 Berkeley protesters merged with an Oakland contingent at 2 p.m. On campus, "there were no incidents from the protests," says Holmes. 
 
 This morning at UCBERKELEY campus an effigy of a Black man was found hanging at one of the entrance gates. pic.twitter.com/Jcak10o2yY — Rosa A. Clemente (@rosaclemente) December 13, 2014 
 
 Contributing: Chris Wiggins, The Associated Press 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/1Du37GD ||||| BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — Effigies of black lynching victims found hanging on a Northern California college campus have sparked debate over whether the images are powerful protest art or just plain tasteless and racist. 
 
 The photographic images were found Saturday morning hanging at two prominent spots on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley. They were discovered a few hours before a demonstration against police brutality organized by a black student union was to start. Police are investigating, but officials say they still don't know who hanged the images or the motivation. 
 
 "It's unclear if this is racially motivated effort or an effort at something else," campus spokeswoman Claire Holmes said. 
 
 Social media sites hosted debates between those who viewed the effigies as art and those offended by the images. 
 
 Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton, a UC Berkeley professor of social psychology who studies prejudice and stereotyping, said he sees no redeeming quality in the images hanged Saturday. 
 
 "Given the volatility of the protests, I think it's misguided regardless of the protest," Mendoza-Denton said. "It's inflammatory and is triggering upset and anger." 
 
 Others, however, said the effigies may have been a form of "guerrilla art" and that images of lynching victims have been used by artists in the past. The rap group Public Enemy used a photograph of two lynching victims on the cover the single "Hazy Shade of Criminal" released in 1992. 
 
 Leigh Raiford, an associate professor of African American studies at UC Berkeley, told the San Francisco Chronicle (http://tinyurl.com/lo44y4c) that the effigies may have been created to provoke thoughtful discussion about historical black repression. 
 
 "To me this suggested a really powerful public art installation that was trying to provoke people to make a historical connection between the history of lynching, state violence against black folks and the contemporary situation that we're faced with around police brutality and these non-indictments," 
 
 A black student union representative said the group is also mystified about who hanged the effigies and why. 
 
 "We hope that it's someone who wanted to bring attention to the issue," said Spencer Pritchard, 21, a Berkeley student who helped organize the Berkeley demonstration. 
 
 About 300 people participated in the peaceful Berkeley protest Saturday afternoon. Many of them later joined a larger demonstration in Oakland that was mostly peaceful, though police arrested 45 people. ||||| BERKELEY -- Three effigies of African-Americans hanging from a noose were found on the UC Berkeley campus Saturday morning ahead of a noontime "#blacklivesmatter" protest in Sproul Plaza, a UC Berkeley spokeswoman confirmed. 
 
 Amy Hamaoui, interim executive director of UC Berkeley's communications and public affairs, confirmed the effigies and also said that university officials are looking to see if there are more effigies. 
 
 The cardboard cutouts had the names of historical lynching victims and the date. It's unclear if the effigies were placed by people supporting the protests as a political statement or from a group opposing the protests. 
 
 Two of the effigies were found hanging from the arches at famed Sather Gate, and another was discovered in a tree near Bancroft Lane, Cal integrative biology student Eniola Abioye said. 
 
 Police took possession of two of the effigies and students took one, said Pastor Michael McBride of the Way Christian Center and co-director of Intervarsity's Black Campus Ministries at UC Berkeley. Campus police could not be immediately reached for comment. 
 
 "This is racial terror they are experiencing," McBride said. "I don't care if it was a white person, a black person, a blue person, if it was an adversary or ally, these images strewed across campus have terrorized my students." 
 
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 Over the past week, the campus has been a starting point for demonstrators protesting grand jury decisions not to indict two officers who killed unarmed black men in New York and Ferguson, Missouri. A "#blacklivesmatter" rally was scheduled at noon Saturday in Sproul Plaza, and will continue as scheduled, Abioye said. 
 
 David DeBolt covers breaking news. Contact him in Richmond at 510-262-2728. Follow him at Twitter.com/daviddebolt. ||||| Berkeley, California (CNN) Protests that erupted at UC Berkeley ahead of a planned Wednesday appearance by right-wing commentator Milo Yiannopoulos caused $100,000 worth of damage to the campus, the school said Thursday. 
 
 The university blamed "150 masked agitators" for the unrest, saying they had come to campus to disturb an otherwise peaceful protest. 
 
 Two Berkeley College Republicans "were attacked while conducting an interview" on the campus on Thursday, UC Berkeley also said in a prepared statement. The attackers, who were not affiliated with the university, were taken into custody by UC Berkeley police. 
 
 Administrators decided to cancel the Wednesday event about two hours before the Breitbart editor's speech. UC Berkeley said it removed him from campus "amid the violence and destruction of property and out of concern for public safety." 
 
 Black-clad protesters wearing masks threw commercial-grade fireworks and rocks at police. Some even hurled Molotov cocktails that ignited fires. They also smashed windows of the student union center on the Berkeley campus where the Yiannopoulos event was to be held. 
 
 At least six people were injured. Some were attacked by the agitators -- who are a part of an anarchist group known as the "Black Bloc" that has been causing problems in Oakland for years, said Dan Mogulof, UC Berkeley spokesman. 
 
 Protests erupt at UC Berkeley over a scheduled speech by Breitbart writer #MiloYiannopoulos. (video by @taka_the_brave) A video posted by CNN (@cnn) on Feb 1, 2017 at 6:56pm PST 
 
 More than 1,500 protesters had gathered at Sproul Plaza, chanting and holding signs that read: "No safe space for racists" and "This is war." 
 
 She was able to respond that she was OK after the attack. The violent protesters tore down metal barriers, set fires near the campus bookstore and damaged the construction site of a new dorm. One woman wearing a red Trump hat was pepper sprayed in the face while being interviewed by CNN affiliate KGO She was able to respond that she was OK after theattack. 
 
 As the scene spiraled out of control, university police warned protesters to disperse and issued a lockdown for campus buildings. 
 
 Multiple dispersal orders have been given for the Milo protest. Please leave campus or avoid the area. @UCBerkeley #miloatcal — UC Police, Berkeley (@UCPD_Cal) February 2, 2017 
 
 "We condemn in the strongest possible terms the violence and unlawful behavior that was on display and deeply regret that those tactics will now overshadow the efforts to engage in legitimate and lawful protest against the performer's presence and perspectives," UC Berkeley said in a statement. 
 
 "While Yiannopoulos' views, tactics and rhetoric are profoundly contrary to our own, we are bound by the Constitution, the law, our values and the campus's Principles of Community to enable free expression across the full spectrum of opinion and perspective," it stated. 
 
 As police dispersed the crowd from campus, a remaining group of protesters moved into downtown Berkeley and smashed windows at several local banks. 
 
 No arrests were made throughout the night. 
 
 Yiannopoulos on college speaking tour 
 
 JUST WATCHED 'I just want to burn it down' Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH 'I just want to burn it down' 09:10 
 
 Yiannopoulos had been invited to speak by the Berkeley College Republicans. He has been on a college speaking tour and had planned to speak about cultural appropriation on Wednesday. 
 
 In a Facebook Live video, Yiannopoulos described what happened as "an expression of political violence." 
 
 "I'm just stunned that hundreds of people ... were so threatened by the idea that a conservative speaker might be persuasive, interesting, funny and might take some people with him, they have to shut it down at all costs." 
 
 President Donald Trump weighed in on Twitter, suggesting the possibility of cutting federal funds to the public university. 
 
 "If U.C. Berkeley does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people with a different point of view -- NO FEDERAL FUNDS?" Trump tweeted Thursday morning. 
 
 If U.C. Berkeley does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people with a different point of view - NO FEDERAL FUNDS? — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 2, 2017 
 
 Later, Yiannopoulos posted Trump's tweet to Facebook and proclaimed himself "the catalyst for this change." 
 
 "American universities are on notice. The President is watching," he wrote. "The days you could silence conservative and libertarian voices on campus and still expect to collect their tax money are coming to an end." 
 
 But some protesters said the Yiannopoulos event wasn't a matter of free speech, because he espouses hate speech. 
 
 UC Berkeley said it had prepared security measures following what had happened at Yiannopoulos' previous events. One of his planned speaking engagements at UC Davis was also canceled last month in response to protests. 
 
 "Ultimately, and unfortunately, however, it was impossible to maintain order given the level of threat, disruption and organized violence," UC Berkeley said in a statement. 
 
 Controversial speech 
 
 Most UC Berkeley students who spoke with CNN said they were relieved that Yiannopoulos wasn't able to speak, but this was not how they wanted to accomplish that goal. 
 
 One student told CNN that he didn't agree with what happened. 
 
 "It's a sad irony in the fact that the Free Speech Movement was founded here and tonight, someone's free speech got shut down. It might have been hateful speech, but it's still his right to speak," said Shivam Patel, a freshmen who stood outside of Sproul Plaza. 
 
 The Free Speech Movement started at UC Berkeley in 1964 after students protested en masse when administrators tried to restrict their political activities on campus. 
 
 Patel said he supported peaceful protests, but disagreed with the way things turned out on Wednesday. 
 
 "It allows people on the right to say, 'Look at all these liberal Berkeley snowflakes. They're intolerant of speech.' I don't think it's productive at all. It does nothing to help this country."
– Amid nationwide protests against police brutality, effigies of three black people hung by their necks turned up on UC Berkeley campus in northern California yesterday—but was it racism or politically inspired art? "We are unsure of the intent," a school spokeswoman tells the AP. The effigies, one female and two male, had the names of lynching victims on them and the dates when they were killed. One effigy with the hashtag #ICantBreathe was named after Laura Nelson, who died by lynching in 1911, Fusion reports. (See a tweeted photo of an effigy here.) "It certainly could have been racially motivated, so we're taking it very seriously and are very interested in finding out who did this," another school rep tells USA Today. No one has claimed responsibility, and police are investigating. Meanwhile, people are debating whether the effigies are designed to support or terrorize protesters. "This is racial terror they are experiencing," an on-campus Berkeley pastor tells the Oakland Tribune. "These images strewed across campus have terrorized my students." But others call it "guerilla art" reminiscent of Public Enemy's 1992 single, "Hazy Shade of Criminal," the cover of which showed two lynching victims. "To me this suggested a really powerful public art installation" that connects lynching, "state violence against black folks," and the "situation that we're faced with around police brutality and these non-indictments," a Berkeley black studies professor tells the San Francisco Chronicle. Hundreds of protesters marched yesterday in Berkeley, without incident, under minimal police presence. (Protests there last weekend led to violence and six arrests.)