Tipsheet

Patricia Heaton Speaks Up for Shapiro During Berkeley Madness

Cortney O'Brien
Cortney O'Brien  |  September 15, 2017 9:35 AM

Ben Shapiro somehow managed to speak at the University of California at Berkeley Thursday night free of a black eye. Social justice warriors apparently could not handle a well spoken conservative pundit. The school was even offering counseling sessions to triggered scholars.

Actress Patricia Heaton, aware of the nonsense that took place ahead of Shapiro's speaking gig, was compelled to speak up on Twitter, especially after film producer Tariq Nasheed tweeted that Shapiro was claiming to be Jewish.

Nasheed responded by accusing Heaton of being complicit in Shapiro's supposedly racist rhetoric. She couldn't find any such comments and informed Nasheed that she serves on the board of the Jr. Posse Youth Equestrian Program and provides college scholarships to black students.

He didn't care, so Heaton sent him on his way. 

"Oh my," she tweeted. "Never mind. I see there is no chance of having a thoughtful discussion. Blessings to you."

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Shapiro had other supporters. But, as we know by now, he is more than capable of defending himself. Before arriving at Berkeley, he poked fun at protesting students who had written in chalk that he was not welcome, joking he was scared to death. 

At the event, Shapiro explained to the students that he is about as anti alt-right as it gets, having spent plenty of time exposing white supremacist ideology as having "no basis in reality." After easily vindicating himself, he offered his large audience a definition of Antifa, the leftist group that has a history of violent protests, and is much to blame for the madness at Berkeley. Thanks to the danger they posed, Shapiro's speech ended up costing upwards of $600,000 for security measures. Nine people were arrested.

“All of America is watching because you guys are so stupid. It's horrifying, I am grateful, and you can all go to hell, you pathetic, lying, stupid jackasses," he said.

Alas, free speech survived.

Editor's Note: An earlier version of this post quoted Nasheed as calling Shapiro a "fake Jew." While Ms. Heaton wrote that in her reactionary tweet, Nasheed did not use those two words.