The Voice of the Wildcats

The Paw Print

The Voice of the Wildcats

The Paw Print

The Voice of the Wildcats

The Paw Print

UC Berkeley: The Battle of Free Speech

Students discuss the recent riots at Berkeley regarding conservative commentators planning speeches on their campus

Several acts of violence have erupted at UC Berkeley because of conservative speakers visiting the campus. The tenacity of the riots have evolved into an on-campus modern civil war.

University of California, Berkeley was once the center of the free speech movement during the 1960s for the right of free speech on campus and to acknowledge the – right to free speech and freedom on school grounds of the students. However, 50 years later, there has been an enormous revolt against conservative speakers planning to show up on campus and some have even started to brand them as “fascists.”.

The idea of attacking someone for having different views would be a heinous and asinine act of war against free speech and would make students be potentially afraid to step foot on a campus intolerant of their own opinions or others might also enjoy taking part of a historical event as well.

“I plan on going there eventually to witness history in the making and I think in the next few years, several events that will go down in history will happen there,” senior Frank Steglinski stated.

However, as shown here some will attend there because of the school’s reputation as one of the most prestigious schools in California and is attended my numerous people seeking English majors. In some ways, the events/shenanigans that take place at Berkeley are what make the school an interesting place to be for some.

“It’s probably not safe to go there and wouldn’t want to risk the possibility of being attacked on campus,” Victor Saliba, a sophomore commented.

Due to what has happened on the campus in recent months due to the arrival of British media personality; Milo Yiannopoulos and the near-arrival of right-wing pundit Ann Coulter, it could be potentially unsafe for those that don’t coincide with the same views as the violent Berkeley “Antifa,”which is a radical group known for wearing black masks and attacking those that don’t share the same ideology.


“Due to what’s been happening lately regarding free speech, it would be in my best interest to not attend a campus that allows attacking those with opposing views,” sophomore Isaiah Solagbade explained.

Students that were potentially seeking to attend a prestigious college, have now been gearing elsewhere due to the massive backlash and violence allowed to occur on school grounds and the lack of protection from the police due to themselves being too afraid to potentially approach or put a stop to acts of violence such as the Berkeley brawl.

Former Breitbart-Senior-Editor and Internet troll Milo Yiannopoulos has planned a return to the controversial campus this coming week and it can only be determined the amount of riots expected on the campus due to the controversial speaker making the decision to come back to a campus that massively rejected his arrival.

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