Greetings,
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The Night Berkeley Betrayed The Free Speech Movement
On Wednesday night, fires blazed across the University of California, Berkeley campus, the site of the student Free Speech Movement of the 1960s, as protesters violently derailed the finale of MILO’s college lecture tour. In 1964, Berkeley student Mario Savio addressed his peers in a speech about the importance of the free and open discussion on college campuses. In his address, Savio argued that the university must return to it’s intended function where students are invited to explore all ideas – both radical and mainstream – freely and without fear of social or academic repercussion.
Tonight, fires blazed across the same parts of the University of California, Berkeley campus from which Savio once addressed his fellow students. Attendees were attacked and left bleeding by mask-wearing thugs. Windows were smashed. A girl was pepper-sprayed. By responding to MILO’s call for “no restrictions on the content of speech” as Savio did so many years ago with riots and violence, the Berkeley socialists of 2017 have betrayed the efforts of those that came before them.
Tonight, Fox 10 Phoenix anchor John Hook, during a live broadcast of the Berkeley riots, argued that “MILO made his point without saying a word.”
Now more than ever, we need to listen to Savio’s impassioned plea for a return to a university that values a diversity of perspectives, keeping in mind that, tonight, the students who follow in the tradition of socialistic activism at UC Berkeley burned the ground on which he once spoke in the demand that the university censor speech that they found objectionable.
Tonight, Berkeley betrayed the free speech movement for which the institution is famous. The university has much work to do if it is to protect the legacy of Mario Savio and reclaim the values espoused by the Free Speech Movement of some 50 years ago.
For the rioters, engaging with MILO’s call for open discussion and intellectual freedom on college campuses wouldn’t be a bad start.
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Donald Trump lashes out at Berkeley university after protest against Breitbart's Milo Yiannopoulos.
President Trump wrote:"If U.C. Berkeley does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people with a different point of view - NO FEDERAL FUNDS?"
While Trump framed his early morning tweet around free speech and opposition to violent demonstrations, his critics are likely to interpret the message as indirect support for Yiannopoulos, a deeply polarising figure who portrays himself as a champion of open expression but whose detractors view as a hate-monger.
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Some schools have cancelled or indefinitely postponed his appearances because they often generate such intense responses.
That leads some to argue that his speech is being censored. Others counter that universities aren't required to pay security and other expenses when students invite speakers.
The Daily Californian, the student newspaper at Berkeley reported that protesters were chanting, "'No Milo, no Trump, no fascist USA,'" setting off fireworks, throwing rocks and bricks and pounding on windows. They reported that university police later used rubber bullets and tear gas in an attempt to calm the crowd.
"Amid violence, destruction of property and out of concern for public safety, the University of California Police Department determined that it was necessary to remove Milo Yiannopoulos from the campus and to cancel tonight's scheduled 8 pm performance," the university announced Wednesday night.
GOP state Sen. Ted Gaines wrote:"Universities should be the most open, the most welcoming harbor of all ideas, left or right. But they have turned into rigid ideological prisons where stepping outside the latest progressive liberal path is considered a thought crime."
Milo Yiannopoulos wrote:“American universities should be on notice. The president is watching. The days you could silence conservative and libertarian voices on campus and still expect to collect their tax money are coming to an end.”
Metta,
Paul.
