Milo Yiannopoulos event cancelled as thousands protest

The University of California, Berkeley has cancelled a speech by right wing internet troll Milo Yiannopoulos after thousands of students gathered in protest and a group of black-clad anti-fascist activists let off fireworks at the speech venue.

The Martin Luther King Jr student union was heavily fortified behind several layers of police barricades when protesters began gathering on Wednesday, three hours before the event was scheduled to start, The Guardian reported on Thursday.

The gathering was boisterous but peaceful. After a while, several dozen protesters wearing black face masks and carrying glittering flags arrived. The group quickly attacked the police barricades, then began lobbing firecrackers at the building.

A police officer eventually announced that the event was cancelled.

Some cheered when police announced the cancellation, but others continued to jeer and call for the police to send Milo out to face the crowd. "Milo isn't here," one police officer shouted amid the din. "Milo isn't here."

Later, Yiannopoulos posted a statement on Facebook claiming that "the Left is absolutely terrified of free speech and will do literally anything to shut it down".

After the event was cancelled, and after the crowd watched a light pole that had been set aflame burn itself out, the atmosphere in the crowd quickly turned festive.

A large sound system was turned on, playing music.

At one point riot police on the student union's second floor appeared to fire non-lethal weapons at the crowd, but it was unclear what kind.

"We won't put up with the violent rhetoric of Milo, Trump or the fascistic alt-right," said a Berkeley history student who declined to give his name. The student, who was dressed in black and wore a face mask, carried a banner that read "Queers bash back". He said he identified with the "antifa" (anti-fascist) movement.

"We are willing to resist by any means necessary," he added.

Lana Wachowski, another protester, defended using extreme tactics to deny Yiannopolous a platform.

"The moral imperative is to win," she said. "There's something to be said for fighting according to a code, but if you lose, people are going to die. People are going to get deported.

--IANS

pgh/bg