SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The Latest on plans for a “Free Speech Week” at the University of California, Berkeley (all times local):
4:30 p.m.
The police chief at the University of California, Berkeley says authorities are expecting and prepared for protests surrounding “Free Speech Week” even as a student group pulled out of sponsoring the four-day event.
The announcement by Chief Margo Bennett on Saturday comes hours after right-wing commentator Milo Yiannopoulos vowed to appear on campus Sunday, when the event was supposed to begin.
Yiannopoulos says he won’t be deterred and will hold a rally with several right-wing commentators at Sproul Plaza, the site of many political demonstrations on campus, “come hell or high water.”
His attempt to speak at Berkeley in February was shut down by masked anarchists who rioted on campus.
Bennett says police will be ready for what may happen when a speaker “can just show up.”
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1:20 p.m.
Right-wing commentator Milo Yiannopoulos says he plans to hold a rally at the University of California, Berkeley after a student group who planned a week of events with him pulled out.
His announcement Saturday added to the confusing back-and-forth about the “Free Speech Week” event at the UC Berkeley campus.
A university spokesman said earlier in the day that the Berkeley Patriot student organization told administrators that the four-day event scheduled to start Sunday had been canceled.
Yiannopoulos says he won’t be deterred and will host the event “come hell or high water.” The rally is scheduled for noon Sunday on Sproul Plaza.
Since February, four political demonstrations have turned violent with masked anarchists rioting on campus.
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10:40 a.m.
Confusion swirls around the “Free Speech Week” event at the University of California, Berkeley with the school saying the event has been canceled, but a featured speaker insists it will go on.
UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof said Saturday that the Berkeley Patriot student organization told university administrators that the four-day event scheduled to start Sunday had been canceled.
But the event’s co-organizer, right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos, says in a Facebook post that while the student group may have pulled out, “I and my speakers have not.”
Some headline speakers, including Ann Coulter, have backed away from the event or said their names were listed without their knowledge.
Yiannopoulos’ attempt to speak at Berkeley in February was shut down by masked anarchists who rioted on campus.
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