After claiming they couldn't find a suitable venue for a speech by conservative Ben Shapiro this fall, UC Berkeley officials have agreed to let him proceed with an event hosted by Young America's Foundation so long as a $15,000 security fee is paid first.
Re: Berkeley:
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) August 28, 2017
1. Berkeley has agreed to host us. They say they support free speech.
2. They required us to pay a $15K security fee. (1/)
3. That means the police should damn well do their jobs and stop violence. No excuses.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) August 28, 2017
4. ATTENDEES, DO NOT SHOW UP FOR VIOLENCE. (2/)5. If the police refuse to do their jobs, or are told not to be administration or government figures, Congress should act. (3/)
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) August 28, 2017
6. Those who engage in political violence break the covenant of civilized society. The police must enforce that covenant. (4/)
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) August 28, 2017
7. The alt-right is repulsive. Antifa is repulsive. We should all stand together against political violence. Join us, Berkeley. (5/)
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) August 28, 2017
8. To sign up for notification about attending our event, here's the link. https://t.co/CqQb8CjGey (6/)
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) August 28, 2017
9. I hope to see everyone there for a civilized discussions about issues. If you're there for violence, stay home or be arrested. (/END)
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) August 28, 2017
As noted by NRO's David French, the $15,000 fee is unconstitutional.
The good ol' unconstitutional massive security fee. https://t.co/j0afnaoHyy
— David French (@DavidAFrench) August 28, 2017
Indeed. As the Foundation For Individual Rights in Education regularly points out, "any requirement that student organizations hosting controversial events pay for extra security is unconstitutional because it affixes a price tag to events on the basis of their expressive content."
A reminder of where we were on this:
Using the same bogus excuse they did with Ann Coulter, Berkeley has blocked @benshapiro from speaking because they "can't find a venue"
— Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) July 19, 2017
As Shapiro has repeatedly pointed out, he's spoken on Berekely's campus before without incident, yet for some reason this time the university is giving him hell.
This is far from over.