Violent protest forces cancelation of Breitbart provocateur's speech at UC Berkeley

Protesters shut down Breitbart editor speech at UC Berkeley
(Image credit: AP/YouTube)

College Republican clubs keep inviting Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos to speak on campuses, and demonstrators keep coming out to protest the polarizing self-proclaimed internet troll and alt-right provocateur. One protester was shot outside a Yiannopoulos speech at the University of Washington on Jan. 20, and demonstrators shut down a speech he was supposed to give at the University of California at Davis a week earlier. On Wednesday night, police at UC Berkeley scrapped a planned Yiannopoulos speech two hours beforehand due to a large protest that turned violent.

Some 1,500 protesters had been gathered peacefully outside the venue when a small group wearing black showed up and started breaking windows and throwing stuff; they also lit a huge bonfire. "This was a group of agitators who were masked up, throwing rocks, commercial grade fireworks, and Molotov cocktails at officers," said UC Berkeley Police Chief Margo Bennet. Under those conditions, police couldn't guarantee Yiannopoulos' safety. There were no immediate reports of serious injury or arrests. By 8 p.m., the final 100 or so protesters danced off campus to a brass band. You can watch some of the mayhem below. Peter Weber

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.