Christina Hoff Sommers was scheduled to speak today at Lewis and Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon. Yesterday, in anticipation of her arrival, a coalition of progressive groups led by a local chapter of the National Lawyer’s Guild announced they would be protesting her appearance. Specifically, a letter released by the group said that Sommers was a “known fascist” and that her invitation to speak was an “act of aggression and violence” toward others.

In case you had any doubt, the violence and aggression they are talking about here is speech. “Free speech is certainly an important tenet to a free, healthy society, but that freedom stops when it has a negative and violent impact on other individuals. There is no debate here.” Here’s the letter in full:

Oh dear. I’m speaking at Lewis & Clark Law School tomorrow at noon. Several student groups are planning to protest the presence of a “known fascist” on campus. Demanding my invitation be rescinded. Wish me luck. pic.twitter.com/0IhVPrWIul — Christina Sommers (@CHSommers) March 5, 2018

Rose City Antifa also took an interest in Sommer’s speaking schedule:

ALERTA! Christina Sommers, who is basically an MRA and rape apologist/denialist has 3 speaking engagements planned for this week in Portland. One will be hosted by Turning Points USA and the PSU College Republicans, and PSU's Boghossian is also on the panel. pic.twitter.com/oV9aMjt7t5 — Always Antifascist (@RoseCityAntifa) March 5, 2018

The announced plan was to show up with signs in opposition to Sommers, which would have been fine if they had sat quietly and given her a chance to talk. But as expected, they tried to take over the room and shout down her speech:

Okay, protesters are trying to shut down @CHSommers at Lewis and Clark Law School. pic.twitter.com/QvCEzDtT4o — Andy C. Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) March 5, 2018

As Sommers started her talk, the leader of the protest group started shouting a prepared speech, dutifully chanted by her fellow protesters, about denying a platform to male supremacy. She’s wearing a jacket that reads “Stay Woke” on the back.

This is what happened when @CHSommers tried to start her lecture. pic.twitter.com/WJrQGAnmkA — Andy C. Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) March 5, 2018

A few minutes into her speech, students interrupted and then demanded she answer questions:

Protesters try to disrupt @CHSommers lecture. They demand that she take questions now. pic.twitter.com/CadwW1Nkcg — Andy C. Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) March 5, 2018

Then they started singing to prevent Sommers from speaking: “Which side are you on?”

Protesters start singing again about no-platforming fascists. @CHSommers looks at audience in dismay. pic.twitter.com/STw1DhYFqi — Andy C. Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) March 5, 2018

Then they tried playing music over a phone (or some device):

Activists brought in speaker to try and drown out @CHSommers with music. pic.twitter.com/27EVTFOpdg — Andy C. Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) March 5, 2018

Sommers highlighted some of the videos, noting she was only able to give about half of her planned speech:

My talk at Lewis & Clark Law School interrupted by chants & songs. Managed to give half of my talk. Most members of the audience were embarrassed by these outbursts. Video: https://t.co/i7AXbBR9ts — Christina Sommers (@CHSommers) March 5, 2018

My talk at Lewis & Clark Law School interrupted by chants & songs. Managed to give half of my talk. Most members of the audience were embarrassed by these outbursts. Video: https://t.co/i7AXbBR9ts — Christina Sommers (@CHSommers) March 5, 2018

The chaos inside the lecture hall at Lewis & Clark Law School was only part of the problem. Protesters outside were chanting loudly. BTW:Most of the students, conservatives & progressives, were civil. A noisy minority was willing to impose its will on everyone else. https://t.co/iliRcVNibu — Christina Sommers (@CHSommers) March 5, 2018

Diversity Dean at Lewis & Clark was present.She approached podium in middle of my talk & asked me to wrap up my speech & take questions. I was never able to develop my argument.Shouldn’t the dean have insisted protesters allow me to finish, rather than cut speech short? https://t.co/1d43iDeo7P — Christina Sommers (@CHSommers) March 5, 2018

A small minority of students believe their, often mistaken, convictions about a speaker should prevent anyone else from getting a chance to listen or engage that person’s ideas. Inevitably, it’s the most progressive students who believe speech is the equivalent of violence and therefore must be stopped before it happens. And unfortunately, in this case, it seems to have worked. Sommers is right that the school representative should have insisted the protesters quiet down during the speech, rather than give them a partial victory by cutting the speech in half. This only ensures more behavior like this the next time a conservative speaker dares to come to campus.