Right-wing rally still on despite students pulling out

SAN FRANCISCO — Right-wing activist Milo Yiannopoulos announced he is planning to hold a rally Sunday at the University of California, Berkeley after a student group that planned a week of events with him pulled out, leading the school to announce the event was canceled.

The announcement Saturday only added to a confusing backand-forth about the “Free Speech Week” event. Yiannopoulos canceled a planned news conference on San Francisco’s Treasure Island and instead declared his intentions in a live video on Facebook.

Berkeley’s reputation as a liberal stronghold and the birthplace of the 1960s Free Speech Movement has made the city and campus flashpoints for the country’s political divisions. Since February, four political demonstrations have turned violent with masked Antifa members rioting on campus.

“Antifa” is short for “anti-fascist,” an umbrella description for far-leftleaning militant groups.

The Berkeley Patriot student organization, which had organized “Free Speech Week,” told university administrators Saturday that their planned four-day event scheduled to start Sunday had been canceled, the university said.

Although the student organization pulled out, “we will not be deterred; we will not be turned away,” Yiannopoulos said.

University officials said they had worked around-the-clock and spent more than $1 million to ensure there would be adequate security for the “Free Speech Week” events.

“Claims that this is somehow the outcome desired by the campus are without basis in fact,” UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof said. “The University was prepared to do whatever was necessary to support the First Amendment rights of the student organization.”