Berkeley student: Republicans harassed daily on campus
UC Berkeley Student Jonathan Chow describes what it’s like being a Conservative on campus, during an appearance on FOX Business on Monday.
“Daily, we get spitting, name calling, yelling, flipping of the finger, that’s a favorite of the students on campus,” Chow said to Ashley Webster on Varney & Co.
Violent protests started in April after students set fires and damaged property on campus to protest a speaking appearance by Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos.
In April, writer Anne Coulter cancelled a speech at the school after a dispute with the university’s officials over safety issues prompted Young America’s Foundation to withdraw support for the event.
Most recently, last Thursday, the university spent a reported $600 thousand on security measures for Conservative speaker Ben Shapiro to deliver a speech on campus.
Chow said, “Some students at UC Berkeley recognize the right to have an opinion and are open to have a ‘civil conversation,’” however, there are cases where people “won’t listen at all.”
“I’ve been told by people that I should go back home. I should go back to Cuba, I’m making America worse and in some cases I’ve also been called a white supremacist, which is ironic because I’m Cuban-Chinese,” he added.
Later this month, former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, Anne Coulter and Milo Yiannopoulos, are scheduled to speak on campus for “Free Speech Week.”
According to Chow, Yiannopoulos is purportedly spending around $500,000 to privately fund his own security team.
“At this point, we are just having militia groups come on campus, just to protect free speech. It’s ridiculous.”