Campus protests over Milo Yiannopoulos — who our own Ryan Girdusky dubbed “the Kanye West of journalism” — are typical, but students at American University really made their presence and disgust known. By the time Yiannopoulos spoke on Thursday, students had already been planning a protest over Facebook and vandalizing signs advertising the event.
The campus is not known for being welcoming of non-leftist viewpoints, and students came out against an event on conservative feminism earlier in the semester.
Once Thursday’s event came, students entering the event were harassed for doing so. Noah Leibowitz, the creator of the Facebook event, dressed up in makeup, pink hair, a skirt and leggings to protest Yiannopoulos speaking on campus. He also carried a sign claiming “Milo Wants Me Dead.”
With @Nero about to speak at AU, tense outside as event goers pass through student protest. pic.twitter.com/YPBnPgIoq7
— Alejandro Alvarez (@aletweetsnews) April 22, 2016
Other students joined in on their megaphones to engage in profanity laced rants, according to The Daily Caller and The Eagle, the student newspaper. Emem Obot claimed that the university does not care about trans or black people, and “this is not your home.”
Student Stephanie Black, who is “a survivor of sexual trauma” also declared she was “ashamed to be part of AU” and claimed that she couldn’t sleep for three weeks because of her anxiety from the posters.
A common theme from students was that the university was not listening to or understanding them.
Reporters faced trouble as well. As Ashe Schow of The Washington Examiner shared over Twitter, a woman demanded she stop filming. When the woman called campus police, she herself was escorted away.
Here is the Melissa Click of American University. We have much much more footage too. pic.twitter.com/C8cLY9U6Da
— Ashe Schow (@AsheSchow) April 22, 2016
Lol the police came over and she thought they were going to save her but actually they escorted HER away https://t.co/eA1i1q1Her
— Ashe Schow (@AsheSchow) April 22, 2016
The drama didn’t die down inside the event once Yiannopoulos began speaking either. Yiannopoulos threatened to donate $20 to Donald Trump’s campaign and $50 to the Milo Yiannopoulos Privilege Grant for underprivileged white males for every unnecessary interruption, though they still occurred.
Black Lives Matter protestors said he was engaging in “white supremacy”and called Yiannopoulos a “fucking racist” while yelling at other students, as Breitbart detailed.
One student tried to rush the stage with a sign that read “Roses are red, Violets are blue, Milo we are too woke to tolerate you,” but was quickly ushered away while students chanted “Trump!” Once inside, Black held a sign that free speech does not equal hate speech, though she was not removed and claimed she received support from other students while standing.
The protester who tried to rush the stage was removed one minute into the speech. A video of the question and answer period was also shared by The Eagle.
