When students and anti-hate protesters began assembling at 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 13, they faced UC campus police and private security with blue barricades blocking the entrances to the building, an odd sight on any campus. However, several protesters were already inside preparing to take action as the last class of the evening was still being taught. Student protesters released a balloon banner inside the lecture hall, reading “Presenting: fascism.”

When the class ended and most students exited, over a dozen demonstrators sprang into action and linked arms across the entrances to the hall. Then campus police began dragging out the demonstrators one by one. One was charged with resisting arrest and taken away. They were picked up from the police station later that night and warmly greeted with food and tea.

Meanwhile, a crowd of about 150 protesters chanted and held signs outside opposing the racist and bigoted Yiannopoulos and his supporters. As police were dragging protesters out, the crowd advanced on the front entrance, eventually breaking through the police barricades. Yiannopoulos’s private security was forced to retreat inside the building, while the police rushed into their place. The demonstrators pushed a banner, “Your fascism is showing” up towards the police and used it to drive them back. The crowd chanted, “Who do you protect? Who do you serve?” and “Move cops, get out the way.”

As the protest continued, demonstrator Antifa Sacramento chased off white supremacist Nathan Damigo, who was attempting to troll the protest. Then a Trump supporter was escorted away by demonstrators after a woman knocked his MAGA hat off his head. Right-wing men attempted to grope women in the protest, but were quickly shoved away. A man wearing a “Don’t tread on me” shirt was seen harassing people in the crowd and threatening violence with a hammer, but he retreated when the attention of the crowd focused on him. In another instance somebody threw coffee on a right-wing reporter who was harassing students.

Martin Shkreli made a brief appearance, his voice drowned out by dozens of people blowing rape whistles at him. One demonstrator was recorded throwing dog poop at Shkreli’s face.

Earlier in his tour, Milo Yiannopoulos verbally attacked West Virginia University professor Daniel Brewster, using anti-gay slurs and mocking his appearance. At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Yiannopoulo targeted a trans woman fighting for transgender rights on campus. The UW-Milwaukee student was forced to drop out of the university due to harassment and personal threats. By taking away Yiannopoulo’s platform, he was unable to target anybody at UCD.

The demonstrators made it clear that the protest was not simply about stopping Milo from speaking. None of the signs in the protest made any mention of Yiannopoulo, instead rallying against his bigoted views and the hate messages he spreads.

“The point is challenging larger systems of oppression, showing marginalized communities that there are people who will help them defend themselves, and showing those who might harass and assault the most vulnerable among us that they will have to deal with significant resistance to do so,” said Connor Gorman, a campus protest organizer.

Students for a Democratic Society at UC-Davis, Students and Workers ending Racial Violence, Antifa Sacramento, and Davis Phoenix Coalition made it clear that Yiannopoulo’ss racism, sexism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, ableism and transphobia will not be tolerated, and will be shut down.

#DavisCA #SDS #Antiracism #Antifascism #MiloYiannopoulos #altright #MartinShkreli

Tampa, FL – On Sept. 26 over fifty students and faculty gathered to protest racist, sexist, LGBT hate mongering journalist Milo Yiannopoulos. The protest rallied in front of the Marshall Student Center at the University of South Florida (USF) where Milo was speaking.

Milo Yiannopoulos is a self-described “alt-right” journalist and known supporter of Donald Trump. His career is based on hate speech towards people of color, women, and LGBTQIA+ people.

Noah Peretz of Tampa Bay Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) said, “Allowing Milo to speak on our campus shows administrators do not care about the wellbeing and happiness of students. Instead, their loyalty lies with right-wing bigots”.

“Students standing up against Milo represent the fact, that he is not someone that we, the students, want to associate ourselves with. He is someone who does not represent the views of the majority of the students that attend USF”, said audience member Yoana Dominguez.

Though disturbing, Milo Yiannopoulos’ presence on campus was not surprising to many, as USF administrations have historically ignored the demands of progressive students on campus. Over the last year, Tampa Bay SDS has waged a “Change the Name” campaign targeting the C.W. Bill Young Building.

Young was a Republican politician and LGBT hating politician who persecuted LGBTQIA+ and communists in a “pink and red scare” of the McCarthyist era targeting students and faculty across the Florida University system. The USF administration continues a policy of LGBT-phobia on campus by rejecting the demand to Change the Name, and also by allowing the hate-monger, Milo Yiannopoulos, to speak on campus.

The event ended with students chanting, “Administration welcomes hate; racist Milo out of our state” and “M-I-L-O! G-T-F-O!” A large number of students expressed their support for SDS and their desire to commit themselves to the fight for LGBT rights and equality on campus.

#TampaFl #StudentsForADemocraticSociety #SDS #PeoplesStruggles #USF #MiloYiannopoulos

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

Minneapolis, MN – More than 70 students, staff, faculty and community members protested a speech titled “CALM DOWN!! Restoring Common Sense to Feminism” delivered by journalist Milo Yiannopoulos at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, Feb. 17.

The protest, organized by Students for a Democratic Society at the University of Minnesota with help from groups such as Asian and Pacific Islanders for Equity and Diversity and Whose Diversity? opposed the presence of Yiannopoulos’s misogynistic hate speech on campus paid for by university funds. The U of M allocated funds to the hosts of the event, the Minnesota Republic. The Republic is the paper affiliated with the student group Students for a Conservative Voice, which also were granted roughly $80,000 in student service fees by the university for the 2015-2016 school year.

Milo Yiannopoulos grew in fame chiefly for his response to Gamergate, a controversy in which a group of men referring to themselves as Gamergate began harassing women who demanded a change in the overwhelmingly sexist video game industry. The instances of harassment included doxing (a form of online harassment), threats of rape and death threats. Yiannopoulos became a major figure of the controversy with his 2014 online essay defending men’s rights to harass and threaten the lives of women and claimed the video game industry to be under attack by an “army of sociopathic feminist programmers and campaigners” who are “lying, bullying and manipulating their way around the Internet for profit and attention.” Students for a Democratic Society argued that his violent speech against women and in defense of sexist violence is hate speech.

Activists at Rutgers University confronted Yiannopoulos in protest on Feb. 9 after the Rutgers chapter of Young Americans for Liberty invited him to speak. Despite Yiannopoulos’s claims against the existence of rape culture, the Rutgers activists, primarily women of color, have received death and rape threats.

In an interview filmed by activist Kaila Boulware, Rutgers University student Nyuma Waggeh addressed the ‘free speech’ issue explaining “Well, we also have the right to speak our opinions on certain issues, and we’re exercising our right to freedom of speech.” Waggeh goes on to cite Yiannopoulos’s denial of the rape epidemic on campus as well as his transphobia as examples of his hate speech.

Coordinated with the SDS protest outside of the Humphrey School, within the talk itself, where 250 people were seated, members from the local branch of the International Workers of the World led a disruption with air horns and shouts. Meanwhile, protesters gathered outside around 5:30 p.m., chanting “Yiannopoulos out of Minneapolis,” “Trans lives matter,” and “They say calm down, we say sit down,” referencing the title of the event.

Later on, after protesters were locked out of the Humphrey School, SDS led a march around West Bank campus into the tunnels as an alternative route, leading to a short confrontation with chants outside the tunnel-level doors into the building. Campus police then locked down that half of campus, demonstrating the tremendous impact of the action.

#MinneapolisMN #SDS #WomensMovement #PeoplesStruggles #Minnesota #sexism #feminism #MiloYiannopoulos #Gamergate