A gang of violent leftists gave President Donald Trump, Breitbart and the far-right a gift Wednesday night by smashing windows, setting fires and throwing rocks at police on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley. Their goal was to stop an appearance by Breitbart troll Milo Yiannopoulos, who had been invited by the school’s College Republicans club, and they succeeded.
I happened to be visiting the campus Sunday and saw fliers with images of him and a stark caption: "Feb. 1 Bring tomatoes." So I expected some attempts at disruption. But what the university called "150 masked agitators" brought more than tomatoes.
Berkeley protest flier Steve Chapman, Chicago Tribune
A photo taken Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017, of a flier posted a bulletin board on the Berkeley campus encourages people to "bring tomatoes" to Milo Yiannopoulos’ talk on Feb. 1.
A photo taken Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017, of a flier posted a bulletin board on the Berkeley campus encourages people to "bring tomatoes" to Milo Yiannopoulos’ talk on Feb. 1.
(Steve Chapman, Chicago Tribune)
The mayhem will only help Trump and Yiannopoulos by confirming the claim that their critics can’t tolerate disagreement. Yiannopoulos promptly posted on Facebook: "The Left is absolutely terrified of free speech and will do literally anything to shut it down." Trump tweeted "If U.C. Berkeley does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people with a different point of view – NO FEDERAL FUNDS?"
The university had stoutly defended Yiannopoulos’ right to speak on campus and canceled the event only after the violence broke out, making it too dangerous for everyone present. But that detail won’t matter to Trump’s supporters, including many law-abiding Americans who will be disgusted by the spectacle.
This sort of behavior plays into the hands of the authoritarian-minded by suggesting brutal methods are needed to keep order. The rioters were a small minority of the 1,500 people who turned out to protest. But their approach was overshadowed by the destruction, which harms all of Trump’s critics by letting him lump them with extreme elements.
The White House would be very happy if this were the norm of dissent — this, that is, instead of the peaceful marches and rallies that happened across the country in response to his inauguration and then his executive order on immigration. Now, responsible critics of the administration will have to spend time disassociating themselves from the irresponsible ones.
Those opposing Trump and his far-right confederates have the better of the argument. But it’s hard to hear them over the sound of sirens.
Steve Chapman is a Tribune columnist and member of the editorial board.
Twitter @SteveChapman13
A scheduled speech by Breitbart’s Milo Yiannopoulos at UC Berkeley on Wednesday was canceled amid protests that grew violent.
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