UC Davis has canceled an event hosted by a conservative student group after a 100-person brawl broke out between alleged members of the far-right Proud Boys and left-wing groups who were on the scene, SFGate reports.
The event was organized by Turning Point USA and featured podcast host Stephen Davis, nicknamed “MAGA Hulk."
"It is unfortunate that the event could not proceed as planned," the university said in a statement. "As a public institution, UC Davis values and supports freedom of expression as rights guaranteed to every citizen ... Hateful words are protected by the First Amendment. Calls for harm to others or acts of violence are not.
Violence erupted between the right-wing and left-wing factions, who “fought among themselves, used pepper spray, knocked over barricades and removed traffic cones,” university officials wrote.
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“Some in the crowd used barricades to beat on the glass of the UC Davis Conference Center, where about 30 people were inside waiting for the event to begin,” the university’s statement continued.
In a post to Twitter, TPUSA founder Charlie Kirk wrote, “Rather than risk any further escalation of violence, our TPUSA chapter leadership decided to cancel the event when it became apparent campus PD was unable to disperse the violent agitators outside while also keeping our students safe inside.”
Various Twitter factions claimed it was the other side who started the violence. Some posts claimed that the Proud Boys were the ones who initially attacked counter-protesters, while other posts allegedly show left-wing protesters attacking a student with pepper spray who was trying to attend the event.
UC Davis Protest: Protester clash at UC Davis cancels Turning Point USA event www.youtube.com
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