There’s nothing positive to be said about what happened Wednesday evening at UC Berkeley. That people disagree with what alt-right agitator Milo Yiannopoulos has to say is understandable. That some chose to push down barriers, smash windows and set fires in a successful attempt at preventing him from speaking is not. That it took place in the birthplace of the free-speech movement makes it all the more shameful. Intolerance for free speech was rampant, especially when a woman wearing a red Trump hat was pepper-sprayed in the face while being interviewed by a KGO reporter.
University authorities blamed the situation on “150 masked agitators” whom they say came to campus to disrupt what was otherwise a peaceful protest. Whatever the reasons, it didn’t help that the next morning President Donald Trump further inflamed tensions with a tweet that read, “If U.C. Berkeley does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people with a different point of view — NO FEDERAL FUNDS?”
Reasonable people can agree that the destruction caused on Wednesday night was senseless. That the president would suggest punishing the entire community for what happened is no less irrational — and inflammatory. Thumbs down on the lot of the them.
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.