Pennsylvania State University canceled a planned comedy event on Monday featuring Gavin McInnes, co-founder of the far-right vigilante group the Proud Boys, citing a “threat of escalating violence”.
“Due to the threat of escalating violence associated with tonight’s event, Penn State University Police determined that it was necessary to cancel the speaking event in the interest of campus safety. Demonstrations regrettably turned violent,” the university said in a statement on its website.
“The University has been clear that the views and speech of the two speakers at tonight’s student-organization-hosted event are abhorrent and do not align with the values of Penn State,” the school added. “We have encouraged peaceful protest, and, while protest is an acceptable means of expression, it becomes unacceptable when it obstructs the basic exchange of ideas.”
Students have been protesting the event, which was to be hosted by Uncensored America, a campus group.
“Penn State Shut Down My Speech on Campus Today!” Alex Stein, one of the performers at the event, wrote on social media on Monday. “Free Speech Doesn’t Exist for Conservatives!”
Demonstrators were recorded by a VICE News reporter celebrating when police announced the show would not be going forward.
Mr Stein posted a clip on Twitter showing a heated exchange with a Penn State student, who he claimed spit on him.
Other bystanders claimed the clashes around the event resulted in someone being maced, and that Proud Boys were present on campus.
During the demonstrations on Monday evening, masked fascists pepper-sprayed parts of the crowd, and police used crowd control horses to respond to the situation.
The pushback against the event began well before Monday.
Earlier this month, students launched a petition with thousands of signatures to stop the far-right figures from appearing on campus.
The organizers of the petition, the Student Committee for Defense and Solidarity, said they supported speech rights, but not insofar as “platforming fascists and promoting hateful, meritless disinformation with thousands of student-fee dollars”.
At the time, the university said it would allow the event to go forward, though stressed it did not support Mr McInness, who co-founded the Proud Boys, which has been classified by experts like the Southern Poverty Law Center as a white nationalist hate group.
“While the type of rhetoric these speakers regularly engage in does not represent the values of Penn State, our student organizations operate independent of the University and are free to sponsor programs or speakers of their choosing without censorship,” the university said in a statement.
