Riot shuts down Yiannopoulos speech in Berkeley
February 2, 2017
One night after peace prevailed at Cal Poly, masked rioters shut down a Milo Yiannopoulos event at University of California Berkeley before the speech began.
Yiannopoulos’ speech was scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. Tuesday. But, university officials canceled it around 6 p.m. and the Breitbart editor was evacuated from the campus.
About 150 masked agitators arrived on the Berkeley campus and interrupted an otherwise nonviolent protest consisting of about 1,500 demonstrators, according to the university public affairs office. The agitators set fires, threw commercial-grade fireworks at police officers and used Molotov cocktails to set generator-powered spotlights on fire.
Skirmishes broke out, and video footage showed supporters of President Donald Trump being beaten and pepper sprayed. The rioters also damaged a campus construction site.
As of 9:30 p.m., police did not make any arrests. Some observers, including Yiannopoulos, accused the police of standing down and letting the riot unfold.
The university said there were dozens of additional police officers on duty, and multiple methods of crowd control in place.
No one suffered major injuries, according to the university. About six individuals suffered minor injuries.
Following the riot, Trump published a tweet threatening to cut federal funds to University of California Berkeley.
“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.
“Campus officials regret that the threats and unlawful actions of a few interfered with the exercise of the First Amendment on campus. UC Berkeley has a proud history and legacy as the home of the Free Speech Movement,” according to a university press release.
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