On the eve of the much anticipated Free Speech Week at UC Berkeley, Milo Yiannopoulos announced that the event has been cancelled due to stonewalling by the university — so instead he promised that he will be leading a march on the campus on Sunday. However, following the announcement, Big League Politics learned that the UC Berkeley administration is telling those involved that they will not be allowed into Sproul plaza.
Essentially, Yiannopoulos and other supporters of free speech will be walking into an ambush if they are not allowed to gather in a protected area and are forced to remain in the streets surrounding the campus where Antifa will also be gathering.
The university claims that since the Berkeley Patriot, which was hosting Milo, dropped off the event, it is no longer student organized and the college does not have any obligation to host the speakers.
That was not the only drama of the day.
Originally, Yiannopoulos, along with scheduled speakers Mike Cernovich and Pamela Geller, had set up a press conference at a mansion on Treasure Island. The provocateur was planning to arrive at the house, the location of which was not publicly disclosed, in a speed boat wearing a $15,000 fur coat. In the signed contract for the rental property, the owners were required to provide Yiannopoulos with three days notice if they had to cancel for any reason. On the morning of the event, however, the team was notified that the owners learned who would be using the property and refused to host it. They even went so far as to chain the gate shut so that nobody could enter.
Instead, the former Breitbart editor held a press conference via livestream from his hotel room — which was locked down like Fort Knox. In fact, I was supposed to be present to cover the remarks in person, but was stopped at the front desk and not allowed to leave the lobby even after the hotel called the room and received confirmation that I was cleared to go upstairs.
“The administration has done everything in its power to crush its own students’ aspirations. UC Berkeley may have a deservedly poor reputation for free speech, and its students will graduate knowing less than when they came in as freshmen, but you have to give the school credit: they are masters of bureaucratic dirty dealing,” Yiannopoulos said during the press conference.
The student group hosting the event has contacted the Department of Justice with a civil rights complaint about their treatment from the faculty and administration.
Despite the warnings from UC Berkeley that speakers will not be allowed on campus, the speakers will be arriving and demanding to do so anyways.
Speaking to Big League Politics, Cernovich stated, “Berkeley said they are going to unlawfully and unconstitutionally deny our access to a public space. We will still be exercising our constitutional right to speak.”
Yiannopoulos has also vowed to “make it right” for the people who travelled in from out of town. He asked for his supporters to forward copies of flight tickets, train receipts, and hotel reservations — and let them know that he has a huge surprise planned for them on Sunday evening.
