Apparently free speech is a thing of the past at the University of California at Berkeley.
Advertisement - story continues below
On Wednesday, Ann Coulter announced that she’s pulling out of her planned speech on the campus despite her efforts to continue on even though it was cancelled. From the New York Times:
Ann Coulter said Wednesday that she is canceling her planned speech at the University of California, Berkeley, because she had lost the backing of conservative groups that had initially sponsored her appearance.
Stop the censors, sign up to get today's top stories delivered right to your inbox
Ms. Coulter, in a message to The New York Times, said, “It’s a sad day for free speech.”
Ann Coulter says she is canceling her speech at Berkeley. Her sponsors pulled out, citing safety concerns. https://t.co/yrxKRQkljl
— Samuel Igor Silveira (@SamuelIgor) April 26, 2017
Advertisement - story continues below
You’ve already seen the violence and rioting from leftists, anarchists, and the anti-First Amendment crazies known as Antifa, but it just seems to be getting worse.
Backstory. Students of the Young America’s Foundation at UC Berkeley and Berkeley Republicans invited Coulter to speak on campus. The date was scheduled for April 27th until the Berkeley administration decided to cancel the event due to “security concerns.” From The Daily Caller:
Advertisement - story continues below
In an email sent to students Wednesday, UC-Berkeley Dean of Students Joseph Greenwell explained that the university had to scrap the event because they couldn’t provide a “safe and suitable venue.”
“Given currently active security threats, it is not possible to assure that the event could be held successfully — or that the safety of Ms. Coulter, the event sponsors, audience, and bystanders could be adequately protected — at any of the campus venues,” Greenwell stated.
And why is that exactly? Because Berkeley administrators have told police to back off. If you watch any of the videos of the violence and rioting by leftists, anarchists, and the crackpots of Antifa, you’ll see the police doing absolutely nothing to stop it, because that’s what they are being told to do.
Lawsuit. The YAF filed a lawsuit against Berkeley for “violating the rights of conservative students”:
Advertisement - story continues below
.@yaf just issued the following statement re: @pnjaban lawsuit against @UCBerkeley @UCPD_Cal pic.twitter.com/7RaWNIlAW8
— Melanie Woodrow (@MelanieWoodrow) April 24, 2017
Coulter fights back. Coulter claimed she was still planning on speaking, but the YAF is unable to hold the event because they don’t believe proper security will be provided. Berkeley tried to re-schedule the event to a week when students wouldn’t be on campus, but Coulter wanted to stay the course and speak on the day she was originally scheduled.
Advertisement - story continues below
Promised Violence. The same fascists that claim to be fighting against fascism have promised violence and rioting if Coulter dares to come and speak. Free speech is no longer the “in” thing at Berkeley, and if anyone dares to disagree with the left, they will be violently shut down. From Breitbart:
Law enforcement sources have told Fox News that there is a “99 percent” chance of violence on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley if conservative author and commentator Ann Coulter speaks on Thursday.
Why this matters? College campuses were once known as hotbeds of free speech, places where differing ideas and viewpoints could be debated and discussed out in the open, in a coffee house, on a debate team or in the student union. That seems to be no more. From Breitbart:
Advertisement - story continues below
Once known as the home of the Free Speech Movement, UC Berkeley has become a virtual no-go zone for conservative speakers, from libertarian entrepreneur Peter Thiel (chased offstage by a mob in 2014), to gay conservative writer Milo Yiannopolous (shut down by riots in February). Berkeley administrators and police have refused to intervene to stop students and off-campus activists, and to protect the exercise of First Amendment rights.
Over and over again the left are proving to be more psychotic than ever before. Indeed, history shows that leftism equals violence — if they can’t coerce you into agreeing with their failed ideology through debate and discussion, they will force you into submission through violence.
Unfortunately, violent threats seem to work. It’s truly a sad day in America when the left is allowed to threaten acts of violence against those who dare express differing ideas than they do.
A sad day indeed.
