The scheduled speeches at the University of California at Berkeley's Sproul Plaza are over and the scheduled speakers have left the area.
The scheduled speeches at the University of California at Berkeley’s Sproul Plaza are over and the scheduled speakers have left the area, Berkeley police said.
Participants have begun leaving, and the road closures are still in effect at this time, police said.
The road closures are as follows: Bancroft Way is closed between Bowditch and Dana streets, and northbound Telegraph Avenue is closed between Durant Avenue and Bancroft, police said.
While the so-called “Free Speech Week” planned at the University of Florida this week was canceled, the scheduled far-right speakers appeared at Sproul Plaza around noon today.
Scheduled speakers were Milo Yiannopoulos, a self-described “troll” – widely defined as someone who deliberately sows discord online – and two other far-right media personalities, Mike Cernovich and Pamela Geller.
The university’s police department put measures in place to ensure the safety of the campus community, university officials said.
Libraries and other buildings that serve students, specifically Eshelman and Martin Luther King Jr. Student Center, are open today. Anyone planning to be on campus should carry their Cal ID in order to gain access to buildings, according to university officials.
With regard to the counter-protests, campus officials said in a statement:
“We encourage you to think critically about your actions and not react to the provocations of others.”
Campus officials added:
“If the actions around you are not consistent with your own values and goals, please remove yourself from the situation. If you choose to remain in an area where violence is occurring, you may be subject to arrest or removal.”
When Yiannopoulos last was scheduled to speak at UC Berkeley in February, protests caused more than $100,000 in damage to the campus, and more than a dozen businesses were vandalized in the city’s downtown area, according to university officials.
Campus police are urging people who see violence occurring to separate themselves from the violence and report the violence by dialing 911 or (510) 642-3333.
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