Speaking Event Featuring Milo Yiannopoulos And Martin Shkreli Shut Down By Student Protesters
Yiannopoulos claims his supporters were "sprayed with urine" and "had bags of feces thrown at them".
Student protesters successfully shut down an event at the University of California, Davis on Friday night featuring notorious online trolls/gross human beings Milo Yiannopoulos and Martin Shkreli.
A controversial writer for the conservative website Breitbart, Yiannopoulos took to Facebook after the event was cancelled and accused “left-wing thugs” of intimidating UC Davis officials. He also shared (unsubstantiated) claims that protesters attacked police officers and journalists, and that guests “were sprayed with urine and had bags of feces thrown at them.”
Campus police, on the other hand, said there had been no violence or property damage, and only one arrest.
Yiannopoulos was due to speak at UC Davis as part of his ongoing “Dangerous Faggot Tour”, having been invited by the Davis College Republicans student group. He subsequently announced that Shkreli, the hated pharmaceutical executive best known for jacking up the price of essential HIV medication, would join him.
Yiannopoulos described the event as “a Twitter villain extravaganza”. Both men were recently banned from the social media platform ― Yiannopoulos for coordinating a campaign of abuse against actor Leslie Jones, and Shkreli for sexually harassing journalist Lauren Duca.
UC Davis students, alumni and faculty members had previously voiced their opposition to the event, penning an open letter in which they condemned Yiannopoulos for his “racist, sexist, and islamophobic hate speech” and argued that “the use of campus facilities and resources to host and therefore legitimize a white nationalist runs completely counter to the stated goals of the University of California and serves as a direct threat towards traditionally marginalized groups on campus.”
According to a statement released by university officials, the Davis College Republicans cancelled the event half an hour before it was due to begin, “after a large number of protesters blocked access to the venue, and it was determined that it was no longer feasible to continue with the event safely.”
“I am deeply disappointed with the events of this evening,” said UC Davis Interim Chancellor Ralph J. Hexter. “Our community is founded on principles of respect for all views, even those that we personally find repellent. As I have stated repeatedly, a university is at its best when it listens to and critically engages opposing views, especially ones that many of us find upsetting or even offensive.”
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