The absurdity keeps flowing out of UC Berkeley in the wake of last week’s aborted Milo Yiannopoulos appearance which devolved into violent protests.
It was bad enough that the editorial board of the school student newspaper, The Daily Californian, said last Friday that the protest violence was “the same freedom of speech Yiannopoulos uses;” now, the paper gives some space to “a reporter and illustrator for Youth Radio” to claim that “condemning protesters [is the] same as condoning hate speech.”
“There was no easy way to shut down the event and keep Yiannopoulos and his fans from inciting violence,” Desmond Meagley writes.
“Anyone who believes that engaging in that kind of aggression during a friendly discussion will keep the peace, be my guest, but prepare to get attacked.”
Ah, yes — Milo’s mere appearance and words are “violence,” and as such deserve physical attack.
I put my safety and my freedom on the line because letting Yiannopoulos speak was more terrifying to me than potential injury or arrest. …
I’ll say it again: The bloc didn’t start the fire. That’s not just a Billy Joel reference, it’s what actually happened. This claim has been repeated so often by sloppy reporters, who refuse to tell stories that don’t fit their comfortable hear-both-sides narrative, that now it’s accepted as fact.
These so-called militants are campus students, Berkeley residents and Bay Area locals; teachers, journalists, musicians, parents and athletes, united by love and concern for their peers. The black bloc is not an organization with an agenda. It’s a strategic approach to protest that, in the case of the entire “Dangerous Faggot” tour, was highly effective. The violence that forms the foundation of Yiannopoulos’ ideology is far worse than any tactic the black bloc uses. You don’t have to like property damage, but understand that without it, Yiannopoulos would have released private and sensitive information about innocent students and encouraged assault against them.
If the fireworks or the damage done to the Amazon store scared you, know that every single person in that crowd was scared too, even (if not especially) those dressed in black. …
If you condemn the actions that shut down Yiannopoulos’ literal hate speech, you condone his presence, his actions and his ideas; you care more about broken windows than broken bodies.
To reiterate: Words equal “broken bodies,” so actual physical violence is needed to extinguish them. Lovely.
By the way, if Meagley is so concerned about “sloppy reporting” he might want to make note that Yiannopoulos vigorously denied any plan to “out” undocumented students in his talk.
In addition, Meagley asks in his piece “Remember that Yiannopoulos supporter who shot someone in Seattle?” While there are reports that the shooter’s Facebook page indicated he’s supportive of Milo, President Trump, and the NRA, some also stated the suspect was a 50-year-old man.
However, more recent pieces note the suspect is actually a 29-year-old University of Washington student who was “surrounded by protesters” just prior to the shooting … and there is still much law enforcement isn’t divulging about the incident.
We do know, though, that the shooter was released without being charged with a crime.
MORE: UW president defends free speech after Yiannopoulos event where ‘white supremacist’ got shot
MORE: UC Berkeley student editorial: Riots ‘same freedom of speech’ Milo uses
MORE: Berkeley Republican recounts night of terror, says pro-Milo students still getting threats
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