Attendees at the William F. Buckley, Jr. Program's "Fifth Annual Conference on the Future of Free Speech: Threats in Higher Education and Beyond" were greeted with Yale free speech event attendees get spat on, called "racist" by liberals protests, disruptions, and were even spat on.

The event, which has been planned for some time, happened to occur soon after students made vocal, and at times unruly, demands about a "safe space" for Halloween.

In their reporting of the event, CNSNews.com pointed to a detailed account from staff writers the Yale Daily News. They also provided a video of a situation at the event.

Remarks were made at the conference by speaker Greg Lukianoff, who referenced wiping out an Indian village in the context of responses to an e-mail from Silliman College Associate Master Erika Christakis about Halloween.

From the Yale Daily News:

Before the comment was made, Edward Columbia ’18 — a white male who did not register for the event — walked into the room and began putting up signs along the front of the room which read “Stand with your sisters of color. Now, here. Always, everywhere,” according to Columbia and Bergeron. They both said a security guard asked Columbia to leave because he was not registered and because he was putting up posters, but he refused to do so. Shortly after, Lukianoff made the comment about the Indian village, and Columbia shouted at Lukianoff and asked him why he thought it was funny, according to Columbia. ... “I couldn’t let the joke go. It was too f—ed up,” Columbia said. “All of the officers treated me well, and I feel bad for putting a security officer who was just doing his job in a position where he had to drag me out. But I also wonder whether I would have been released so quickly … if I weren’t a white male.”

Of course, Columbia naturally felt the need to bring his sex and race into it. In his own take of the event, student attendee and president of the Buckley Program, Zach Young, said that the officer was told "you're going to have to carry me out" when he asked Columbia to leave.

When Young left the conference to offer cookies to the protesters, the situation escalated as protesters became unruly and demanded to enter. They had already been told that the event was at full capacity and no one who had not registered would be allowed in.

Reporting from the Yale Daily News also included accounts from attendees. According to them, "several attendees" were spat on. One was called "a racist." And one, a minority, was called "a traitor." Both were kept anonymous for fear of backlash.

The Yale Daily News spoke to students who felt compelled to protest and disrupt the event after the off color joke was posted on "Overheard at Yale"s Facebook page. Though they acknowledged and did not advocate for the spitting, they still stood by their protest:

Bear Don’t Walk said the protesters followed all the appropriate rules and formed a path for the attendees of the Buckley event. However, she did acknowledge that it is difficult for students to have productive discussions in such emotionally charged situations. “Things got heated on both sides,” she said. “It’s hard to have constructive discussions when there is a large group of people who are passionate and emotional about what’s at stake.”

Young's piece further describes the account:

Another student soon wrote about the incident on the Facebook group “Overheard at Yale.” Comments on the post identified our event’s location. “Run through,” one recommended. ... For nearly two hours, the crowd outside grew in size and volume. Social media attacks on our organization intensified. When I offered the protesters leftover cookies — intended as a nice gesture — I was called a “white colonizer” and told to stay in the hallway to be “educated...”

To be taken seriously, perhaps the students should not have disrupted the event in such a manner to cause such heated confrontations and strong emotions. Generally, spitting is never a good idea to get your point across.