The Free Speech Deniers were successful in keeping Ann Coulter from speaking on campus.
Coulter revealed the news this afternoon in a series of tweets.
I’m so sorry Berkeley canceled my speech. I’m so sorry YAF acquiesced in the cancelation. And I'm so sorry for free speech crushed by thugs.
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) April 26, 2017
I’m so sorry Berkeley had a different story every 20 minutes, which always was: No speech.
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) April 26, 2017
If we had continued to fight we would have won.
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) April 26, 2017
If we had continued to fight we would have won.
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) April 26, 2017
I’m very sad about Berkeley's cancelation, but my sadness is greater than that. It is a dark day for free speech in America.
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) April 26, 2017
It’s sickening when a radical thuggish institution like Berkeley can so easily snuff out the cherished American right to free speech.
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) April 26, 2017
I am so grateful to people like Bill Maher, Chris Matthews and Margaret Carlson for opposing Berkeley’s censorship.
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) April 26, 2017
‘It is a dark day for free speech in America’ tweeted Coulter.
It certainly is.
Coulter did want to keep up the fight, but the groups backing her pulled out due to safety concerns. With no one backing her and little security, coupled with the recent violence that broke out at the Berkeley campus when Milo Yiannopoulos was scheduled to speak there, the polarizing conservative Coulter would have been in the midst of a crap-storm of mayhem.
In short, she had no choice.
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 said she could speak only at a later date and an earlier time of day, when there were likely to be fewer students on campus and less of a likelihood for violent outbreaks.
Late on Tuesday, the conservative group that was helping Ms. Coulter in her legal efforts to force Berkeley to host her, Young America’s Foundation, said it could no longer participate. “Young America’s Foundation will not jeopardize the safety of its staff or students,” the group said.
Without any support, Ms. Coulter said, she was left with little choice. “Everyone who should believe in free speech fought against it or ran away,” she said.
Ms. Coulter was confronted with the dangerous prospect of setting foot unguarded on a campus that erupted in violence in February after another conservative speaker, Milo Yiannopoulos, planned to appear. The school canceled his event.
The Berkeley College Republicans, which invited Ms. Coulter and was supposed to sponsor her visit, also backed out and joined Young America’s Foundation in saying the atmosphere had grown too hostile.
Administrators at Berkeley, who say Ms. Coulter is welcome on campus when the university has an indoor, “protectable” venue available, offered a day next week when students are no longer in class, a proposal that Ms. Coulter rejected.
Read more: New York Times
The initial ‘ban’ of Coulter was due to ‘Safety Concerns’.
The Daily Caller reported the ‘official’ first cancelation of the event:
In an email sent to students Wednesday, UC-Berkeley Dean of Students Joseph Greenwell explained that the university had to scrap the event because they couldn’t provide a “safe and suitable venue.”
“Given currently active security threats, it is not possible to assure that the event could be held successfully — or that the safety of Ms. Coulter, the event sponsors, audience, and bystanders could be adequately protected — at any of the campus venues,” Greenwell stated
And why were there safety concerns?
It’s because the University of California at Berkeley and the Berkeley Mayor told the Police to ‘stand down’ with regard to protesters.
But wait! There’s more.
It looks like the Young America’s Foundation is filing a lawsuit against UC Berkeley for ‘violating the rights of conservative students’:
.@yaf just issued the following statement re: @pnjaban lawsuit against @UCBerkeley @UCPD_Cal pic.twitter.com/7RaWNIlAW8
— Melanie Woodrow (@MelanieWoodrow) April 24, 2017
The unspoken statement is that ‘free speech’ is permitted on campus — as long as it’s not conservative. Events featuring Milo Yiannopoulos, David Horowitz, and now Ann Coulter have all been canceled due to ‘security concerns’.
What do you think of this?
Let us know in the comments.
H/T: The Federalist Papers Project
