Berkeley braces for unrest despite Ann
Coulter cancelation
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[April 27, 2017]
BERKELEY, Calif. (Reuters) - Police
at the University of California at Berkeley braced for potential clashes
between militant left-wing and right-wing activists on Thursday, despite
conservative commentator Ann Coulter dropping plans to address students
at the campus.
Coulter, one of America's best-known and most provocative pundits on the
political right, said on Wednesday that she no longer intended to defy
university officials by addressing UC Berkeley students on campus this
week.
But Coulter left open the possibility of paying a visit to her
supporters at the school, long a bastion of liberal student activism and
a center of the Free Speech Movement protests of the 1960s.
UC Berkeley officials said classes would be held as scheduled.
But campus police Captain Alex Yao told a news conference late on
Wednesday that his department would maintain "a highly visible presence"
on Thursday, pointing to continued threats of violent protests.
"Many of the individuals and organizations which planned to protest Ann
Coulter's appearance or support it still intend to come to campus,"
university spokesman Dan Mogul of told Reuters.
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Indeed, social media feeds of militant left-wing and right-wing
activists remained abuzz with vows to proceed with demonstrations and
counter-demonstrations over the Coulter-Berkeley controversy.
In February, protesters opposed to an appearance by Milo Yiannopoulos,
then a senior editor for the conservative Breitbart news website, set
fires, broke windows and clashed with police on campus, prompting
cancellation of his speech.
And in March and again in April, opposing groups from the far-right and
far-left skirmished violently near campus.
All three incidents were cited on Wednesday in an open letter from UC
Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks explaining the school's position.
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![](../images/042717pics/news_d9.jpg)
Commentator Ann Coulter speaks to the Conservative Political Action
conference (CPAC) in Washington, DC, U.S. on February 12, 2011.
REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo
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University officials said the Berkeley College Republicans erred by
inviting Coulter without notifying campus officials in advance, as is
required of all student groups, and by failing to submit to a "security
assessment" to determine a suitable time and place for the event.
UC Berkeley officials denied that Coulter was unwelcome because of her
politics.
After initially barring her from speaking on campus on Thursday,
university officials proposed moving her appearance to next Tuesday.
Coulter said she could not make it then and accused the school of trying
to limit her audience by choosing a date that fell in a study week ahead
of final exams.
Coulter then insisted publicly that she would go through with her speech
on Thursday, over the university's objections. But she said she changed
her mind after student organizers withdrew their invitation, though they
vowed to press ahead with a lawsuit filed on Tuesday accusing UC
Berkeley of suppressing freedom of speech.
(Reporting by Lisa Fernandez in Berkeley; Additional reporting by Mark
Hosenball in Washington and Jonathan Allen in New York; Writing and
additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Simon
Cameron-Moore)
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