The Latest on a talk at the University of California, Berkeley by polarizing Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos (all times local):
8:15 p.m.
Crowds of protesters are clearing away from outside the building at the University of California, Berkeley, where polarizing Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos was set to speak, after police ordered them to disperse.
A small group of people with their faces covered broke windows, hurled fireworks at police officers and threw smoke bombs, prompting UC Berkeley officials to cancel Yiannopoulos’s talk Wednesday evening.
Earlier police in helmets and gas masks stood inside the building but didn’t exit as at least 1,500 people gathered outside.
By 8 p.m. the crowd had thinned and at least 100 protesters that remained danced to a brass band playing music and marched off campus and into a main avenue.
UC Berkeley spokesman says there are no immediate reports of arrests or serious injuries.
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7:30 p.m.
A University of California, Berkeley official says a talk by a polarizing Breitbart News editor at the university has been canceled as protesters outside the building where the speech was to have taken place threw smoke bombs and set a fire.
UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulos says officials are advising the campus to shelter in place and to stay away from the student union building, where Milo Yiannopoulos was scheduled to speak.
A group of protesters dressed in black and some in hooded sweatshirts broke windows, threw smoke bombs and flares at a building and set a large bonfire outside the building.
Hundreds of peaceful demonstrators carrying signs that read « Hate Speech Is Not Free Speech » had been protesting for hours before the event.
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6:30 p.m.
A group of protesters is throwing smoke bombs and flares to UC Berkeley’s student union building where polarizing Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos is scheduled to speak Wednesday evening.
Some of the protesters are pulling away metal barricades as police in riot gear guard the building.
Hundreds of peaceful demonstrators carrying signs that read « Hate Speech Is Not Free Speech » had been protesting for hours before the event.
A small group dressed in black and some in hooded sweatshirts showed up and began throwing flares and other objects at the building.
The 32-year-old right wing provocateur is a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump and a self-proclaimed internet troll whose comments have been criticized as racist, misogynist, anti-Muslim and white supremacist.
His visit to Berkeley is sponsored by the campus Republican club.
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2:21 p.m.
The University of California at Berkeley is bracing for major protests against Milo Yiannopoulos(yuh-NAH’-poh-lihs), a polarizing Breitbart News editor, on the last stop of a tour aimed at defying what he calls an epidemic of political correctness on college campuses.
Tight security is planned at Berkeley for the Wednesday evening event.
Several student groups have called for protests and pledged to shut down the talk.
The 32-year-old right wing provocateur is a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump and a self-proclaimed internet troll whose comments have been criticized as racist, misogynist, anti-Muslim and white supremacist.
His visit to Berkeley is sponsored by the campus Republican club.
Several of Yiannopoulous’ talks at other campuses have been canceled due to protests or security concerns.
