"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."

- Evelyn Beatrice Hall, The Friends of Voltaire

Last night, I witnessed the storied history of free speech at the University of California, Berkeley come full circle - and come crashing down.

Violence has surrounded the college tour of controversial Breitbart editor and self-described "Dangerous Faggot" Milo Yiannopoulos, from cancelled shows to riots and a shooting at the University of Washington last week. Last night, it reached a violent climax. And it happened, of all places, at Sproul Plaza outside the Martin Luther King Student Union - cradle of the Free Speech Movement.

Critics denounce Yiannopoulos, who worked under Breitbart's Steve Bannon, now a Pres. Trump adviser, as a member of the "alt-right," "extremist," and "fascist." Yiannopoulos describes himself as a gay Jewish cultural libertarian, comedian, provocateur, and free speech advocate who lampoons feminism, Black Lives Matter, the Muslim religion, social constructions of gender, illegal immigration, and more.

Here is Yiannopoulos' interview with self-described classic liberal Dave Rubin - classic liberal, as in open to new ideas.

As we approached Sproul Plaza shortly before 7 pm, we heard a thundering explosion, and soon arrived to an angry horde and a blazing fire. By my estimate well over a thousand protestors - perhaps many more - had descended upon the plaza as an angry mob in the hours before his scheduled 8 pm talk. Many wore masks or bandannas. Many others - often not wearing masks or black - wielded "anti-Nazi" and "anti-fascist signs." Yet somebody ordered dozens of police in full riot gear to retreat inside the student union - and many more held in reserve nearby to stay away. That left those of us holding tickets alone, facing an angry mob.

As helicopters circled and news cameras rolled, hundreds of people shot video and photos, including numerous members of my UC Berkeley Journalism School. When does journalism become activism? When does it become incitement? Fake news?

Anarchy filled the power vacuum. Protesters blew up a generator, fired fireworks at officers positioned in buildings above, and smashed windows. I personally witnessed masked assailants calling themselves "Antifa" - "anti-fascists" - attack innocent people who did no more than take their photo, wear a "Make America Great Again" hat, or say they came to hear what Yiannopoulos had to say. Protesters waved Communist and anarchist flags, danced around burning police equipment, and beat people while rows of armored police looked on from inside.

Regardless of what one thinks of Yiannopoulos and his views, who can justify attacking innocent people exercising their constitutional rights to free assembly and free speech? And who can justify university officials allowing the heart of the most famous public university on earth to descend into Lord of the Flies?

When my classmate, an Army veteran, shielded one of the victims, he told the protesters he was a member of CalVets here to help keep people safe. So a woman - who was not masked - kicked him in the testicles and slapped him. As I held her at arms length, another man - again not wearing a mask - tried to smash my head in with an anti-Nazi sign. Luckily, this rioter was a weakling. I pushed him away and we beat a hasty retreat.

From my vantage point at Berkeley, "social justice" looks like an Orwellian euphemism for "mob rule."

Several protesters, including some legal observers wearing hats identifying them, remarked to me that the university "should have known better" than allowing a person to speak whose ideas might displease the angry masses. They smiled as they said it, while a man in a black mask walked by with a long stick.

As we saw on YouTube later, masked protesters appeared to beat a fleeing person unconscious with this long stick on nearby Bancroft Ave - in full view of the police. Mixed martial arts fighter Jake Shields saved a man wearing a Trump hat being beaten in the street - probably the same man.









Hours after the school cancelled Yiannopoulos' talk, the police cleared Sproul Plaza after giving three warnings over a loudspeaker. Rioters then headed down Telegraph Road and downtown, smashing windows of many banks and other businesses. Broken glass lined large parts of Shattuck Avenue in downtown Berkeley.

Curious to know why the cops abandoned those of us who gathered to exercise our right to assembly, I returned to Sproul Plaza on a closed-down campus hours later and saw lines of police blocking access.

"Kind of late for that, don't you think?" I asked.

"We wanted to come out," one officer told me as the cops around him nodded. "We were ordered not to."*

"I really respect all of you and appreciate what you do," I said. "But I think your bosses need to be fired."

Before the talk, over 100 Berkeley faculty signed a letter asking to ban Yiannopoulos from speaking on campus. In response, Berkeley Free Speech Movement veterans offered backhanded support. Berkeley's lame-duck Chancellor Nicholas Dirks offered an equally tepid endorsement of Yiannopoulos' right to free speech. That was only because the Berkeley College Republicans invited him, and the nonprofit Foundation for Individual Rights in Education warned the school that charging a $10,000 security fee would be a prior restraint on free speech - the kind that could provoke a 1st Amendment lawsuit. Dirks, you may recall, is twisting in the wind - asked to resign in late August because of myriad scandals and mismanagement, but hanging on until a successor takes over.

Dirks said Yiannopoulos' "views, tactics, and rhetoric are profoundly contrary to our own." But at a public university, who has the right to decide what my views are?

During the riot, UC Berkeley officials condemned the violence - more empty words from spineless, doublespeaking school officials allowing the inmates to run the asylum.





Sather Gate will never be the same after last night.





"Today, the Berkeley College Republicans right to free speech was silenced by criminals and thugs," said Peter Sittler, a member of the group. "It is tragic that the birthplace of the Free Speech Movement is also its final resting place."

I believe that what I saw last night, and what has been brewing in the US and across the world for years, is a direct result of the echo chamber news media that generates revenue by spreading fear, distortions, controversy, scandal, and violence. Many news media organizations, including my own Graduate School of Journalism, systematically exclude different perspectives that don't adhere to the Politically Correct, social justice paradigm. For example, the J-School includes well over 100 faculty and students. Not one is a Republican or conservative - or is at least willing to voice such an opinion. Meanwhile, social justice banners hang around campus.

This riot, in other words, was just the flesh-and-blood manifestation of UC Berkeley's institutional suppression of free speech going back years, even decades. The school and the city only support free speech they agree with.

From my vantage point at Berkeley, "social justice" looks like an Orwellian euphemism for "mob rule." If this is the progressive movement's vision for America's future, consider me a sworn enemy. And that is coming from a guy who voted for Obama twice and volunteered about 200 hours on his campaign.

What I saw was pure hatred and bloodlust in hundreds of people's eyes. It shook me far more than walking past the wreckage of the World Trade Center on my way to work after 9/11 (That's because I saw love, sorrow, and compassion in the eyes of New Yorkers). And it made me ashamed to be part of this community - Berkeley, California, the most narrow-minded, intolerant place I have ever known. I shall never forget it.

Chancellor Dirks wrote that Yiannopoulos "deflects any serious engagement of ideas." Last night, as news cameras and helicopters circled, Yiannopoulos did TV interviews from a secure undisclosed location. The protesters played right into his hands - giving him an exponentially bigger forum to push his top issue, weeks after signing a $250,000 book deal. Free speech, he says, is under assault on college campuses - literally.

"For 30 years," Yiannopoulos says, "the Left has been able to bully people into silence by name-calling."

Not if I can help it. In the interest of free speech, here is Yiannopoulos in his own words.

Note: Within two days, Yiannopoulos' upcoming book reached #1 on the Amazon bestseller list. Here is his statement on the Berkeley riots.

* Two days later, attorney John Bakhit, representing the Federated University Police Officers Association, confirmed that police were ordered to not protect innocent people. "They were unable to assist the citizens and the public that were out there defenseless against these riots," Bakhit said.

Instead of the cops, mixed martial arts fighter Jake Shields saved one of at least nine people treated for injuries sustained during the riot. "I don't think helping a person being attacked is a left or right thing," Shields said. "And I don't think free speech is a left or right thing."

Most of the mainstream news reporting - including Cal Prof. Robert Reich's article - ignore at least four critical facts. (1) Cal has been excluding non-liberal viewpoints for decades. (2) The university ordered the police to retreat inside, forcing innocent people to face the mob alone. (3) Some of the protesters engaging in violence were NOT wearing masks. (4) Violent protesters have been disrupting Bay Area demonstrations since before Breitbart existed, and before Yiannopoulos was born.





#FakeNews #Student Voices #BigIdeas #UCBerkeley