Milo Yiannopoulos Supporter Sues Berkeley for $23 Million
Lawsuit claims that university has acted “to unconstitutionally curtail the First Amendment rights of its students and invitees”
Tim Kenneally | June 6, 2017 @ 5:04 PM
Last Updated: June 6, 2017 @ 7:50 PM
A fan of fallen alt-right darling Milo Yiannnopoulos has filed a lawsuit against UC Berkeley Regents for a whopping amount, claiming that her First Amendment rights were curtailed when she attempted to attend a February appearance by Yiannopoulos.
The suit, filed in federal court in California on Monday alleges that the defendants “have subjected UC Berkeley students and invitees who do not subscribe to the radical, left wing philosophies sanctioned by Defendants to severe violence and bodily harm for merely expressing a differing viewpoint, in clear contravention of their rights under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.”
In addition to the UC Berkeley Regents, the suit’s many defendants include UC president Janet Napolitano, the UC Berkeley police department, the Berkeley police department, frequent conservative target George Soros and California representative Nancy Pelosi.
“The University of California Berkeley (‘UC Berkeley’) … has acted to unconstitutionally curtail the First Amendment rights of its students and invitees thereof,” the suit reads, adding that the defendants “have subjected UC Berkeley students and invitees who do not subscribe to the radical, left wing philosophies sanctioned by Defendants to severe violence and bodily harm for merely expressing a differing viewpoint, in clear contravention of their rights under the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.”
The suit alleges that, when Robles attempted to attend the appearance by Yiannopoulos, more than 1,500 protesters gathered at UC Berkeley’s Sproul Plaza and “erupted into violence.”
“Several people, including Plaintiff Robles, were intentionally and violently attacked by both masked and unmasked assailants and the UC Berkeley campus incurred over $100,000 worth of damage,” the lawsuit reads. “Plaintiff Robles was attacked with extremely painful pepper spray and bear mace by masked assailants amongst the ‘protestors’ because she chose to exercise her right to freedom of speech and show support for the planned speaker, Milo Yiannopoulos.”
The suit also says that there were no campus police near Robles when the protests went down, but there were “nearly 100 campus police and SWAT members waited in the Student Union building, within eyesight of the violence happening outside, watching the protestors become more belligerent and dangerous.”
The suit contends that the defendants “should have been fully prepared” for violence to break out at the event, but such wasn’t the case.
“Defendants should have reasonably anticipated a violent response to Milo Yiannopoulos’ presence on their campus and acted accordingly by providing effective police protection to those attending the event,” the legal papers read. “The school’s inaction was motivated by the fact that Milo Yiannopoulos and his supporters have opposing viewpoints to the majority of the school’s students and administration.”
In a statement to TheWrap, UC Berkeley called the lawsuit “a collection of false claims.”
“The University of California, Berkeley intends to mount a vigorous and successful defense of its actions, and looks forward to contesting this collection of false claims. The campus administration and law enforcement professionals at the University of California Police Department (UCPD) are committed to supporting our paired commitment to Free Speech and to the safety of campus community members and all of our guests,” the statement reads. “In advance of the Milo Yiannopoulos event, administrators and UCPD spent countless hours and substantial University resources planning security measures to enable the event to occur. Faced with an unprecedented level of organized violence, UCPD responded in a manner designed to minimize injuries to innocent members of the surrounding crowd, defend the building from incursion by massed attackers, and protect and safely remove the speaker. We are confident that UCPD’s actions will be vindicated against the plaintiff’s uninformed allegations.”
Alleging multiple violations of the U.S. Constitution, negligence, gross negligence, assault and other counts, the suit seeks damages in excess of $23 million.
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.
Milo Yiannopoulos' Rise and Fall, From GamerGate to Pedophilia Comments (Photos)
Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos' rising star has turned into a meteor plummeting toward Earth. After video of Milo voicing support for adults to have sexual relationships with boys began circulating the internet, the Conservative Political Action Conference dropped him for its keynote and his book deal was canceled.
Here's the complete timeline of Milo's rise, from his opportunism in the "GamerGate" harassment campaign against women in the video game industry, to his resignation from Breitbart News.
2011 — Milo founds “The Kernel” The British journalist launches the London-based blog, which covered tech startups. By 2012, he was sued for allegedly not paying contributors who alleged that he owed them more than £10,000. The blog closes in 2013 and Milo sold it in 2014.
2014 — Milo joins Breitbart News As an incendiary Breitbart columnist, Milo relies on shock, and mostly targets feminism, Islam, liberals, social justice and his idea of political correctness. Column subjects have included “Why I Don’t Like Beyonce” and “Birth Control Makes Women Unattractive and Crazy.”
August 2014 — GamerGate The online “movement” called "GamerGate" draws on some existing toxic attitudes in the video game community as women gain more visibility in the space. Beginning with a screed by a jilted man against his ex-girlfriend, GamerGaters claimed to fight for “ethics in games journalism.” However, the most vocal component of GamerGate almost exclusively focused on harassing female game developers and journalists online.
October 2014 — Milo and GamerGate Milo begins to write about GamerGate for Breitbart, claiming feminists are taking over and destroying the industry. He gains acclaim in the GamerGate community and becomes one of its stars, gaining many online followers from his involvement.
2015 — Breitbart starts "Breitbart Tech" Breitbart starts “Tech” section that Yiannopoulos runs as a senior editor. Through GamerGate in particular, he rises as a figure in the “alt-right” movement. Breitbart Chairman and Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon once described Breitbart as the “platform of the alt-right.” The “alt-right,” it should be noted, is widely regarded as a white nationalist movement.
2015 — "Dangerous Faggot” College Tour starts As he becomes better known for his incendiary, often hateful conservative opinions, Milo kicks off a speaking tour of U.S. college campuses called the “Dangerous Faggot Tour." (He is openly gay.) His appearances are met with protests, with critics claiming he spreads hate speech. These protests sometimes cause university officials to cancel his speaking engagements.
July 2016 — Milo goes after "Ghostbusters" Again gaining notoriety in conservative “geek” circles, Milo pans Sony's all-women “Ghostbusters” reboot on Breitbart. His review of the movie coincided with many complaints around the internet, mostly leveled by men, claiming the reboot with a female cast was somehow an attack on culture by the forces of political correctness and feminism.
July 2016 — Milo attacks Leslie Jones and is banned from Twitter Milo takes to Twitter to insult "Ghostbusters" co-star Leslie Jones, and in so doing kicks off a harassment campaign against Jones by his followers. Jones leaves Twitter, and Milo is permanently banned from the site for “inciting harassment.” Milo positions the ban as an attack on his free speech rights.
July 2016 — Milo stumps for Trump Gaining fame and notoriety, Milo throws his particular influence behind Donald Trump's campaign for president. He hosts a "Gays for Trump" event at the GOP National Convention, and refers to Trump as "Daddy."
December 2016 — Milo blasts transgender student on stage While visiting the University of Milwaukee, Milo showed the photo of a transgender student, named her, and disparaged her on stage.
December 2016 — Book deal Threshold Editions, an imprint of publisher Simon & Schuster that focuses on conservative works, signs a $250,000 book deal with Milo for a book titled "Dangerous."
Jan. 23, 2017 — Milo supporter shoots man at protest A Milo appearance at the University of Washington prompts a student protest during which a supporter of Milo and Donald Trump shot a protester, seriously injuring him. The shooter claimed he was acting in self-defense.
Feb. 2, 2017 — Protesters force speech cancellation at Berkeley Protesters appear before a Milo event at the University of California at Berkeley, including members of the “Black Bloc” anarchy group. The protests turn violent. Police break up the rally, and Berkeley cancels Milo’s appearance as a result.
Feb. 18, 2017 — Comedian Bill Maher hosts Milo on “Real Time” Maher interviews Milo on HBO's “Real Time With Bill Maher,” despite the controversy the move created. Maher, responding to the Berkeley protest in particular, claims that bringing Milo to the show was essential to the protection of free speech.
Feb. 18, 2017 — CPAC announces Milo will headline conference The Conservative Political Action Committee announced Milo as its keynote speaker.
Feb. 20, 2017 — Milo on video defending sexual relations with boys A recording from Milo’s appearance on the podcast “Drunken Peasants” begins to circulate the internet. In it, Milo defends the idea of adults having sexual relationships with adolescent boys. He also joked that his experience of being molested by an older man when he was a young teen had made him good at oral sex.
Feb. 20, 2017 — Milo resigns from Breitbart Milo says in a statement, "I would be wrong to allow my poor choice of words to detract from my colleagues' important reporting, so today I am resigning from Breitbart, effective immediately. This decision is mine alone."
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A timeline of the conservative pundit’s high-profile career
Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos' rising star has turned into a meteor plummeting toward Earth. After video of Milo voicing support for adults to have sexual relationships with boys began circulating the internet, the Conservative Political Action Conference dropped him for its keynote and his book deal was canceled.
Here's the complete timeline of Milo's rise, from his opportunism in the "GamerGate" harassment campaign against women in the video game industry, to his resignation from Breitbart News.
