Milo Yiannopoulos will not return to UC Berkeley again this week, for what would have been “Free Speech Week,” after his brief appearance on Sproul Plaza on Sunday, according to an email released by the campus Sunday.
Yiannopoulos, who was co-organizing the four-day Free Speech Week event with campus publication the Berkeley Patriot, announced his intent Saturday to hold an event on campus Sunday, even though the Berkeley Patriot pulled its support from the event. Yiannopoulos spoke on the steps of Sproul Hall on Sunday for about 20 minutes with Infowars host Mike Cernovich and conservative author Pamela Geller, while a crowd of about 300 people protested his appearance.
During his talk Sunday, Yiannopoulos said he intends to return to campus every year.
The Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost called the protest on Sproul Plaza “relatively peaceful” in its email, and added that Yiannopoulos will not be returning to campus again after his “brief appearance” Sunday afternoon.
“We have been told he will not be returning to campus this week,” the campus said in the email. “Upper Sproul Plaza will be fully reopened by Monday morning and police barricades will be removed early in the week.”
But a rally that was previously scheduled to take place on the West Crescent Lawn at noon Sept. 25 in response to Free Speech Week is still likely to occur, according to the email.
Both campus staff members and students expressed concerns about Free Speech Week prior to its cancellation. Many professors canceled classes in light of safety concerns, and some students said they felt Free Speech Week was impacting both their academics and their safety.
The campus said in its email that it would be addressing the impact of Free Speech Week on community members in the coming days.
“Campus leadership will communicate in greater detail about the impact recent events have had on our campus community later in the week and offer plans for moving forward,” the campus said in an email.