UC Berkeley erupts in protests over Milo Yiannopoulos speech

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February 2, 2017 1:23 PM

Yiannopoulos, an editor for the far-right website Breitbart News who many identify with the alt-right, a white-nationalist movement, was set to appear as part of a book tour.

Protesters watching a bonfire on Sproul Plaza during a rally against the scheduled speaking appearance by Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos on the University of California at Berkeley campus on Wednesday.

Protests erupted on the University of California at Berkeley campus Wednesday night over a scheduled appearance by conservative provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos.

The event was cancelled after demonstrators threw smoke bombs and flares at the building, the Associated Press and local media reported. Yiannopoulos posted to his Facebook page shortly after:

"I have been evacuated from the UC Berkeley campus after violent left-wing protestors tore down barricades, lit fires, threw rocks and Roman candles at the windows and breached the ground floor of the building," the post said.

Yiannopoulos accused the demonstrators of trying to squash free speech. UC Berkeley, notably, is considered the home of the Free Speech Movement of the 1960s.

Heres a look from the scene:

Some critics have noted that Yiannopoulos, who is known for expressing right-leaning, politically incorrect views, was going to give his presentation inside UC Berkeley's Martin Luther King Jr. Student Union, on the first day of Black History Month.

UC Berkeley issued this statement on the protests:

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