Videos show Berkeley cops doing nothing as violence erupts between protesters in street

More than a dozen arrests were made Saturday in Berkeley, California, when violence broke out between supporters of President Donald Trump and "anti-fascist" protesters, those who oppose the president.

But widely circulated video from the scene Saturday showed many Berkeley police officers standing around doing nothing as people literally beat each other into the ground.

Warning: Some readers may find the following videos disturbing.

One journalist, Shane Bauer who works for liberal magazine Mother Jones, was at the protest documenting the violence and the stories of protesters. At one point, he noticed there was a lack of police presence intervening to stop the violence.

"I haven't seen a cop in like two hours as huge street brawls continue in Berkeley," he tweeted Saturday afternoon.

So he walked to different police officers posted at different blocks away from the protests and asked them why they were merely standing around while violence erupted in their streets.

When he asked one cop in riot gear why he was just standing around, the cop said: "I'm not at liberty to discuss my tactics."

When he asked a pair of cops by a patrol car why they're standing back, one told him they were ordered to stand down by their chief.

"That would be a good question for the chief of police," one officer said.

The other officer deferred all questions to the department public information officer.

"I've been wondering, I mean I've just been watching people all day get beat up pretty bad and I haven't seen you guys around much," Bauer told the officer.

"Mhmm, OK, and?" the officer coldly replied.