Activists smash sound equipment at ‘Google memo’ author’s university talk

A group called the “Free Thinkers” hosted Damore, along with secular free-speech writer Helen Pluckrose and former Evergreen State College professors Bret Weinstein and Heather Heying, to discuss the topic of diversity in the workplace. The panel was moderated by Peter Boghossian, an assistant professor of philosophy at Portland State, who wrote the parody-style hoax academic journal entry “The Conceptual Penis as a Social Construct.”

Leading up to the event, Antifa made threats to the event organizers and posted flyers around campus.

“James Damore was fired from Google for going on a sexist tirade in a company memo… His misguided and anti-scientific rhetoric is not acceptable at PSU,” the flyers read in part.

College administrators also organized three counter events, totaling seven hours of programming.

Portland State spokesman Chris Broderick told Fox News that the university rejects Damore’s “ideas as sexist stereotypes.”

However, Damore mentioned during his remarks that his memo included ways to better women in tech and that failing to identify the problems only hurts the outcome of women in STEM fields.

His criticizing of the company’s internal gender diversity policies were an attempt to better diversity, not the other way around.

This did not sit well with protesters, however. A member of the audience screamed that the panel on diversity was not diverse enough.

Student organizer Andy Ngo says that he invited many professors from the women’s studies department at Portland State in hopes that they might present an opposing viewpoint, but none accepted his offer to contextualize the event.