Milo Yiannopoulos blamed “violence from the left” for the cancellation of his scheduled UC Berkeley appearance Wednesday evening.

Shortly after the Breitbart News editor’s event was called off, he posted a statement on his Facebook page:

“I have been evacuated from the UC Berkeley campus after violent left-wing protestors tore down barricades lit fires, threw rocks and Roman candles at the windows and breached the ground floor of the building. My team and I are safe. But the event has been cancelled. I'll let you know more when the facts become clear. One thing we do know for sure: the Left is absolutely terrified of free speech and will do literally anything to shut it down.”

In a subsequent interview with Fox News, Yiannopoulos said UC Berkeley is “a liberal campus. They hate libertarians or conservatives who dare to express an opinion on their campus. They particularly don’t like me.”

The self-described “libertarian, gay, Trump-supporting provocateur” said college campuses are places where “you should be able to engage with different ideas.”

Those who attend his appearances, he said, include people who “don’t necessarily agree with me but just want to hear the other side. They were prevented from doing so this evening by violence from the left — the left that is terrified of anyone who they think might be persuasive or might be interesting or might take people with them.”

A shooting took place at a Jan. 20 University of Washington event where Yiannopoulos was speaking. The confessed shooter fired at a 34-year-old individual, hitting the person in the abdomen. The IWW and General Defense Committee, on behalf of the victim, claimed that the protester was there to oppose Yiannopoulos's hate speech and de-escalate confrontations. The shooter, who has not been charged with a crime, reportedly fired at the protestor during the heated exchanges among pro- and anti-Yiannopoulos camps.

Trapper Byrne is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tbyrne@sfchronicle.com