An appearance by conservative writer Ann Coulter at the University of California at Berkeley drew a crowd of protesters Wednesday night, in the latest episode of "cancel culture" on the nation's college campuses.
"Multiple" mask-wearing protesters were arrested, campus police confirmed on Twitter.
Covering
faces is a violation of campus protest policy, the Bay Area's FOX
2 reported. The station said as many as seven people were arrested.
Video
posted online showed Coulter being quickly escorted past protesters
into the building where the event, titled, “Adios, America,” was held.
It was hosted by the Berkeley campus' College Republicans.
Coulter
started speaking about 15 minutes late because attendees had trouble
getting through a “human chain” of protesters who tried to block
ticketholders from getting inside the building.
“They can protest
all they want and shout their slogans – free speech – I’m cool with
that, but I am not cool with having somebody block our way getting in,”
said Derrick Main, a Marin County Republican Central Committee member.
He told FOX 2 he paid $45 for his ticket.
“They can protest all they want and shout their slogans ... but I am not cool with having somebody block our way getting in.” — Derrick Main, speech attendee
Conservative writer Andy Ngo posted video that appeared to show a woman having her ticket stolen.
Some of the protesters said they were there to promote left-wing causes.
“We’re here to show our support for DACA and also to protest white supremacy,” Hamid Hakimi, a student protester, told Berkeleyside.
Some protesters said they wanted to see the event shut down, but others agreed Coulter had a right to speak.
“I think it’s important that we hear people like her speak to know that this is real,” a student named Aurora told FOX 2.
Ann Coulter appears on "The View" in 2017. (Getty Images)
“What we’re doing by protesting is showing that her
specific speech is not welcome here,” student Gianluca Pedrani told the
station.
“What we’re doing by protesting is showing that her specific speech is not welcome here.” — Gianluca Pedrani, student
There were two protesters inside the event, but only one was removed because the other agreed to be silent, FOX 2 reported.
The
Berkeley campus is frequently the center for free speech debates. in
September 2017 a scheduled four-day event dubbed Free Speech Week was canceled over safety concerns. Protesters had sought to silence a featured speaker, provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos.
Earlier that year, Coulter canceled an event on the campus, also over safety concerns. She called the situation "a dark day for free speech in America."
“¡Adios, America!: The Left's Plan to Turn Our Country Into a Third World Hellhole,” is a book written by Coulter in 2015.
Senate
Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told Fox News
Wednesday that Department of Justice Inspector General Michael
Horowitz's report on allegations of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance
Act (FISA) warrant abuse during the 2016 election will be released on
Dec. 9.
During an appearance on "Hannity"
Wednesday, host Sean Hannity noted Horowitz will be coming before
Graham's committee on Dec. 11 to testify on the matter and went on to
ask Graham not to allow a Friday night document "dump" that could
muffle the coverage of the news.
In response, Graham smiled and nodded.
"It'll be December 9th -- you'll get the report," the South Carolina lawmaker said.
"That's locked."
Horowitz told congressional lawmakers in an October letter that his investigation and ensuing report were nearing their conclusion.
The "lengthy"
draft report "concerns sensitive national security and law enforcement
matters," Horowitz wrote in the letter, adding that he anticipated "the
final report will be released publicly with few redactions."
Horowitz noted that he did not anticipate a need to prepare or issue "separate classified and public versions of the report."
"After
we receive the final classification markings from the Department and
the FBI, we will then proceed with our usual process for preparing a
final report, including ensuring that appropriate reviews occur for
accuracy and comment purposes," Horowitz wrote in the letter. "Once
begun, we do not anticipate the time for that review to be lengthy."
Graham further
broke news on "Hannity" when he confirmed he is sending a letter to
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo requesting the transcripts of three phone
calls the senator said then-Vice President Joe Biden had with
then-Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
Graham
said the phone calls coincided with the timeframe in which a Ukrainian
prosecutor, once praised for going after the head of natural gas company
Burisma Holdings -- a person Graham said was known as the "dirtiest guy
in Ukraine" by one top American official -- was fired.
Burisma was the company on which Hunter Biden, the son of the 2020 Democratic candidate, sat on the board.
"I want
to know are there any transcripts or readouts of the phone calls
between the vice president and the president of Ukraine in February
[2016] after the raid on the gas company president's house," said
Graham. "After this raid, Hunter Biden kicks in. Hunter Biden's business
partner meets with [then-Secretary of State] John Kerry, and Vice
President Biden on three occasions makes a phone call to the president
of Ukraine and goes over there in March and they fire the guy, and this
is the same man that the ambassador wanted investigated in 2015."
Graham
added he found it "odd" that instead of lauding the Ukrainian
prosecutor, Viktor Shokin, for investigating the Burisma chairman, he
was instead relieved of his duties.
He said that in 2015,
President Barack Obama's ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt, said in a
speech he wanted Shokin to be more forceful in his investigation of
domestic corruption.
"The one person he named as being a sleazebag was the president of Burisma," Graham remarked. Fox News' Gregg Re, Mike Emanuel and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
Justice
Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz appears at the launch of
the Procurement Collusion Strike Force at the Justice Department in
Washington, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
The DOJ watchdog is highlighting the elevated level of spending at
the FBI in its latest report of the bureau’s finances. In the report,
Inspector General Michael Horowitz said the FBI is spending $42 million
per year on payments to its informants.
Video: Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz
discusses today’s report on the FBI’s Management of its Confidential
Human Source Validation Processes.
However, only 20 percent of the informants reportedly meet the
bureau’s standards. Horowitz found at least one of the FBI’s informants
was a registered child sex offender.
The bureau reportedly has a mounting backlog of new informants
awaiting validation, which the IG said may hinder the FBI’s operations.
“Ineffective management and oversight of confidential sources can
result in jeopardizing FBI operations — placing FBI agents, sources,
subjects of investigation and the public in harm’s way,” stated
Horowitz. “The FBI agreed with all of our recommendations to improve its
management and oversight over this important program.”
The IG also found the FBI failed to provide agents with clear
guidelines on how to work with informants, which made its spending on
informants even less efficient.
President Trump is saying China is not stepping up as trade
negotiations get increasingly complicated and a Phase One deal is
further delayed. On Wednesday, trade officials close to the White House
said that a partial deal could get pushed back to next year.
China is reportedly pushing for an extensive tariff rollback while
the U.S. is demanding a deal that addresses intellectual property and
technology transfer issues. While touring an Apple assembly plant in
Austin, Texas, the president said he will not sign an inadequate deal.
“China would much rather make a trade deal than I would,” stated
President Trump. “I haven’t wanted to do it yet…because I don’t think
they’re stepping up to the level that I want.”
Speaking during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, the president said he’s
considering raising tariffs on China if they can’t make a deal. Another
round of tariffs is set to go into effect December 15th.
The Trump administration had originally planned to sign the deal at
the APEC Summit in Chile this month, but that event was canceled amid
violent protests in the capital city. Talks have since hit a snag as
Beijing pushes for a full tariff rollback from the U.S.
Chinese media has since reported that although Beijing wants a deal, they are pessimistic it will get done.
Ann Coulter appears on "The View" in 2017. (Getty Images)
“What we’re doing by protesting is showing that her
specific speech is not welcome here,” student Gianluca Pedrani told the
station.
