'Punching Nazis should not be a crime': Middle School teacher charged with assaulting Californian white nationalist calls on a judge to throw out her case

  • Teacher Yvette Felarca, 47, attended an anti-Nazi protest in Berkeley last year
  • 300 anti-fascists opposed 300 white nationalist outside the state capitol
  • She was filmed during the protest, which turned violent, punching a neo-Nazi
  • Prosecutors have charged her with felony assault and misdemeanor riot

A middle school teacher filmed punching a white nationalist during a demonstration has called on all charges against her to be dropped as 'standing up to Nazism is not a crime'. 

Yvette Felarca was one of 300 counter protesters who set out to stop a demonstration by the white nationalist Traditionalist Worker Party in Berkeley, California in June 2016.

The two groups clashed outside the state capitol building with fourteen people suffering stab wounds, cuts and bruises. Two of the injured survived critical stab wounds. 

This is the moment middle school teacher Yvette Felarca stands up to a white nationalist outside the state capitol building in Berkeley, California in June 2016

This is the moment middle school teacher Yvette Felarca stands up to a white nationalist outside the state capitol building in Berkeley, California in June 2016

Felarca, 47, has been charged with assaulting the man after prosecutors reviewed film footage

Felarca, 47, has been charged with assaulting the man after prosecutors reviewed film footage

Felarca told a court in Sacramento that standing up to Nazism should not be a crime 

Felarca told a court in Sacramento that standing up to Nazism should not be a crime 

Felarca, who is a leading member of By Any Means Necessary, which opposes far-right nationalism, addressed the court in Sacramento. 

She said: 'These charges against me are false. They should be dropped.

'Standing up against fascism and the rise of Nazism and fascism in this country is not a crime. We have the right to defend ourselves.'

According to KPIX 5, Felarca's lawyer Shanta Driver suggested police in Sacramento on the day of the riot were far too slow to intervene.   

She said: 'I think anyone has the right to self-defense. I think what’s shown in that video is partial and incomplete.' 

Felarca attended the Capitol protest and gave television interviews after the melee. Following those interviews, Berkeley police last year investigated threats against Berkeley's Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School where Felarca was a teacher.

She also has been prominent at several clashes in Berkeley involving the Occupy movement and more recently between supporters and opponents of President Donald Trump and conservative leaders. 

Felarca's trial is due to start on October 4.  

Members of the far-right Traditionalist Worker Party fought with anti-fascist demonstrators outside the capitol building in Sacramento, California in June 2016

Members of the far-right Traditionalist Worker Party fought with anti-fascist demonstrators outside the capitol building in Sacramento, California in June 2016

Felarca is a teacher at Martin Luther King Middle School, pictured,

Felarca is a teacher at Martin Luther King Middle School, pictured,

Felarca, pictured has been a regular on protests against the far right and police brutality 

Felarca, pictured has been a regular on protests against the far right and police brutality