Stop violence, not talk

In February, violent protests against a planned speech by Milo Yiannopolous at the University of California at Berkeley drew dozens of police officers—but led to $100,000 of damage on campus as well as damage to more than 10 downtown businesses.

Now a conservative student group at the school that birthed the Free Speech Movement in the 1960s has invited the divisive, far-right speaker back next month for “Berkeley Free Speech Week.” Yet after deadly protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, and last weekend’s latest clash in Berkeley between masked antifa members and conservative protesters, Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguin sought to cancel Yiannopoulous’ appearance, fearing “mayhem” and “Berkeley being used as a punching bag.”

Thankfully, the university rebuffed the mayor.

“We have neither the legal right or desire to interfere with or cancel [student groups’] invitations based on the perspectives and beliefs of the speakers,” a university spokesman told the San Francisco Chronicle. That follows Chancellor Carol Christ’s pledge in an open letter last week to “invest the necessary resources” to ensure safe speeches.

“If you choose to protest, do so peacefully,” she wrote. “That is your right, and we will defend it with vigor. We will not tolerate violence, and we will hold anyone accountable who engages in it.”

Amen. Officials should stop violence, not speech.