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A substantial police presence both on the Berkeley campus and at a gathering in a downtown park kept hundreds of activists on both sides of the free-speech debate in line during protests Thursday. Hundreds of far-right protesters, some dressed in goggles, gas masks and knee pads, rallied in support of conservative speaker Ann Coulter in Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park . Some at the rally were wearing combat gear, including military grade ballistic helmets and body armor. Dozens of police in riot gear stood by ready to crack down on violence as had been anticipated between provocateurs of...

Jonathan Haidt is a member of one of America's smallest fraternities -- those who attempt to see beyond their own prejudices. In the left-leaning Chronicle of Higher Education, he notes that "intimidation is the new normal" on college campuses. The examples are well-known: The shout-down/shutdown of Heather Mac Donald at Claremont McKenna College; the riots sparked by Milo Yiannopoulos at Berkeley; the experience of Charles Murray at Middlebury College, where he and professor Allison Stanger were physically assaulted by a mob. Stanger was sent to the hospital with injuries. She said she feared for her life. Haidt writes: "We are...

Demosthenes, the Athenian rhetorician and champion of liberty, pointed out around 355 B.C. that residents of Athens were free to praise Sparta's regime, but Spartans were banned from praising Athens. In 1689, the British passed a law guaranteeing freedom of speech in Parliament. A century later, French revolutionaries incorporated into law the Declaration of the Rights of Man, which established free speech as a universal right. Two years later, the Americans ratified the First Amendment, which guarantees that the state shall not infringe on the right to free speech. Roughly a century and half later, in 1948, the United Nations...

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The phrasing here skirts awfully close to suggesting right-wingers are complicit in the “anti-fascist” violence directed at them. If a provocateur like Coulter “throws herself into a volatile situation,” don’t be surprised if the locals are provoked in a “volatile” way, I guess.Charles Cooke anticipated this idea of “volatility” yesterday in summarizing the campus view of speech this way: “Your opinions are fighting words because I’ll riot if you express them.” [A]cross the country, conservatives like her are eagerly throwing themselves into volatile situations like the one in Berkeley, emboldened by a backlash over what many Americans see as...

There is a clear and present danger to conservative students at the University of California Berkeley. The birthplace of the so-called free speech movement is now the epicenter of a nefarious movement to silence freedom-loving young people. Conservative commentator Ann Coulter had been scheduled to speak today, but she canceled. Leftwing groups had threatened to silence Ms. Coulter by any means necessary. But the university refused to guarantee the safety of Ms. Coulter or the students who invited her to speak – the Young America’s Foundation. I know these students. I know this organization. They are good people – patriots...

BERKELEY (CBS SF) — Following the cancellation of the Ann Coulter speech at University of California, Berkeley, far-right supporters plan to hold a rally Thursday to denounce what they claim is the attempted silencing of their conservative views, stoking fears of another violent encounter with far-left groups. UC Police said it was preparing for violence Thursday between militant factions on both sides, even as the speech by the conservative firebrand Coulter was canceled over fears of violence. Gavin McInnes, founder of the pro-Trump “Proud Boys,” said he would fly to Berkeley to speak Thursday and was encouraging other alt-right forces...

UPDATE: Conservative commentator Ann Coulter says she has canceled her speech planned for this week at UC Berkeley

Ann Coulter said Wednesday that she is likely to cancel her planned appearance at the University of California, Berkeley, because she faced threats of violence and felt she was left without the support of local law enforcement who have said it cannot guarantee her safety. ~snip

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. Ms. Coulter, in a message to The New York Times, said, “It’s a sad day for free speech.” Despite insisting that she would go to Berkeley regardless — even after the university said it could not accommodate her on the date and time it had initially scheduled her because of threats of violence — Ms. Coulter said she did not see how she could go forward. The school...

April 26 (Reuters) - Conservative commentator Ann Coulter has canceled her speech planned for this week at the University of California's Berkeley campus after a dispute with university officials, who feared violent protests, over whether a safe venue could be found. "There will be no speech," she wrote in an email to Reuters on Wednesday, saying two conservative groups sponsoring her speech were no longer supporting her. "I looked over my shoulder and my allies had joined the other team," she wrote. (Reporting by Mark Hosenball in Washington and Jonathan Allen in New York)

YAF and the Berkeley College Republicans are suing the university, and on Tuesday YAF withdrew its support for the Coulter event, citing the refusal of local law enforcement to protect participants. Berkeley’s mayor, 32-year-old Jesse Arreguin, expressed sympathy for the protests against Milo. He is also allegedly a member of the Facebook group of By Any Means Necessary (BAMN), a local left-wing militant group that has played a leading role in the unrest.

The University of California at Berkeley is bracing for massive protests in a public plaza on campus after learning that conservative commentator Ann Coulter plans to give a speech there Thursday afternoon. Sproul Plaza, site of the iconic Free Speech Movement protests in the 1960s, is both symbolic and logistically challenging for the university. On an open campus, anyone can flock to the plaza.

Ann Coulter has rejected the University of California, Berkeley's re-invitation to speak on campus, according to Fox News. On Thursday, a day after calling off Coulter's upcoming appearance for security reasons, university officials backtracked and paved the way for her to speak to students on May 2. But the right-wing provocateur responded via Twitter on Thursday, indicating they've already spent money for the previously scheduled event on April 27, and she's not available to speak on the new date. Then she On Twitter, she also brushed off Berkeley's statement "claiming they 'rescinded' cancelation." Instead she condemned officials for adding "NEW,...

Officials at the University of California at Berkeley on Thursday reversed their decision to cancel a speech by conservative firebrand Ann Coulter. The university had announced Wednesday that it was canceling Coulter’s appearance following several political protests in Berkeley that turned violent. But on Thursday, the university said it had found a venue where it could hold the speech on May 2, instead of the original April 27 date. However, a leader of the college Republican group that originally invited Coulter said the university was placing strict conditions on the event, and he said his group intended to reject the...

The campus that is the home of the historical free speech movement, UC Berkeley, has banned conservative commentator and author Ann Coulter, citing security threats. According to Young America’s Foundation, student organizers of an upcoming Ann Coulter event at the university were emailed by Berkeley administrators who claimed they were unable to “find a safe suitable venue” for Coulter. “Young America’s Foundation, BridgeCal and Berkeley College Republicans have been working together to produce a lecture at UC-Berkeley on April 27, 2017, by Ann Coulter, a twelve-time bestselling author, whose book, ‘Adios, America!’ – a No. 2 New York Times bestseller...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Ann Coulter fired off an angry stream of tweets Wednesday vowing to speak as planned next week at the University of California, Berkeley after campus officials called off the event for security concerns. "I WILL BE SPEAKING NEXT THURSDAY," the right-wing commentator tweeted, calling the move to cancel her planned event on April 27 a ban on free speech.Coulter was invited to speak at Berkeley by campus Republicans on the subject of illegal immigration. The event raised concerns of more violence at Berkeley, where masked rioters smashed windows, set fires and shut down an appearance by...

"Yes, it was officially banned," said the political commentator and author. "But they can't stop me. I'm an American. I have constitutional rights." It appears UC Berkeley is in for another political brawl, this time with Ann Coulter, who tells The Hollywood Reporter that she'll speak at the famously progressive campus even though administrators are trying to prevent her from doing so... Coulter had accepted an invitation from two campus groups — the Berkeley College Republicans and BridgeUSA — to deliver a speech about immigration, the topic of one of her 12 New York Times best-selling books. "If that's banned,...

By now you’ve no doubt heard about the scheduled speech by Ann Coulter at Berkeley which may or may not be cancelled at this point. When Allahpundit dug into the story yesterday he repeated one observation which bears revisiting again this morning. We’re getting closer to the inevitable moment when someone is literally murdered on an American campus because a right-winger tried to speak.” That’s rather chilling, but it’s also obviously a very real possibility. Sadly, this reality gives Berkeley the perfect excuse to cancel an appearance by yet another conservative speaker. But that may be easier said than...