Falcon Heights, MN – Roughly 50 University of Minnesota students and community members gathered on Monday, Feb. 26, to protest the presence of far-right provocateur and former Breitbart News editor-at-large, Ben Shapiro, on the Saint Paul campus. The protest, organized by Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), demanded an end to hate speech on campus and an end to hosting such speakers with university student service fees, which are paid by all students.

The counter-protest follows national calls within national SDS to oppose speakers like Shapiro, Betsy DeVos, Milo Yiannopoulos and others, demanding that they be opposed wherever they go. As such, Shapiro is no stranger to SDS – University of Utah SDS mobilized over 400 people to demand an end to hate speech on Sept. 27, 2017 in response to a speaking engagement of Shapiro on the University of Utah campus.

Amidst chants of “Racist, sexist, anti-gay, Ben Shapiro, go away,” protesters and speakers, most prominently from SDS and the Queer Student Cultural Center, called for utilizing university funds for progressive, community-focused efforts instead of lining the pockets of top paid administrators and giving the most reactionary groups on campus tens of thousands of dollars with which to invite in racist, homophobic, and transphobic hate speakers like Ben Shapiro.

These and other demands were made as the crowd seized the only entrance to Shapiro’s event, scaring off many potential attendees and surrounding others with chants and demands as they walked up, all before leading a quick march around the Saint Paul campus of the university to demand “hate speech off campus now!”

#FalconHeightsMN #BreitbartNews #altright #BenShapiro

Tallahassee, FL – On Sept. 23, over 40 students gathered at Florida State University (FSU) to protest a speaking event hosted by Milo Yiannopoulos, journalist for far-right website Breitbart News.

Milo Yiannopoulos is known for his role in the alt-right political movement which is united around Donald Trump and anti-immigrant attitudes. Yiannopoulos was recently permanently banned from the social media website Twitter for his role in the racist and sexist harassment of African American actress Leslie Jones. He has long been known for his anti-feminist and misogynist rhetoric, including his leadership in the Gamergate controversy, where feminists were harassed for their criticism of sexist video gaming culture.

Milo Yiannopoulos has seen his events canceled and himself disinvited by universities for his hateful rhetoric and concerns about safety. Students across the country have protested his events including at Rutgers, University of Minnesota, Depaul University and UCLA.

At FSU, students gathered before the start of the event in front of the HCB Classroom Building. They held signs reading “Sexist Milo off campus,” “Racism not welcome here,” and a banner saying “No hate speech.” Students chanted “Racist, sexist, anti-gay, Milo Milo go away!” and “Hey hey, ho ho, Milo has got to go!”

“We are protesting because Milo Yiannopoulos is a racist and misogynist. FSU students are here to stand against his spread of hateful propaganda on our campus. Today we hope to send a message to administration that we will not tolerate hateful bigots speaking here any longer,” said Katherine Draken, member of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).

“Our university is saying, and putting out this lie that our university supports all people and that it is pro-equality when really they are bringing in these people to talk and speak who are totally against that,” said Cea Moline, emcee of the rally and member of SDS.

Both the FSU Pride Student Union and the FSU Graduate Assistants United issued statements earlier this week denouncing Milo Yiannopoulos and the decision to bring him to speak on campus. The protest was organized by the FSU chapter of Students for a Democratic Society.

#TallahasseeFL #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #MiloYiannopoulos #BreitbartNews #altright

In the run-up to the July protest at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Breitbart News stated, “One notable attendee will be the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO).” The June 27 article went on to express alarm at FRSO’s political line that backs self-determination for oppressed nationalities in the U.S. (Chicanos and African Americans), a theme Breitbart News has brought up in a number of other articles

In its coverage of the Cleveland demonstration, Breitbart News states, “The lead organizer and MC was Kait McIntyre of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, who kept proceedings lively. Also on scene was the resurrected Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), the radical left-wing organization whose anti-war protests and battles with police outside the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 1968 are the stuff of radical lore.”

Breitbart News has carried numerous denunciations of anti-Trump protests that members of FRSO have helped to organize and published vicious attacks on the Palestinian American leader Rasmea Odeh.

In 2010 Breitbart News attacked the anti-war and international solidarity activists who were raided by the FBI in a bogus investigation of ‘material support of terrorism.’

Returning to that narrative in 2012, Breitbart wrote of impending violence at the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa, stating, “One of its organizers is Mick Kelly, a prominent anti-war activist and one of the organizers of a violence-riddled protest at the 2008 RNC in St. Paul, Minnesota. Kelly was also one of six subjects of an FBI raid in 2010 in a separate incident pertaining to the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, in which an arrest warrant sought evidence ‘that Kelly provided, attempted, or conspired to provide material support to designated foreign terrorist organizations.’”

#MinneapolisMN #FreedomRoadSocialistOrganizationFRSO #StephenKBannon #BreitbartNews