UC Berkeley officials are warning the hosts of a Wednesday night event featuring right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos that his campus speech may be used to target individual students in the country without documentation.
We are deeply concerned for all students safety and ability to pursue their education here at Cal beyond Milos speech, the universitys Office of Student Affairs said in a letter Tuesday to the Berkeley College Republicans, the students hosting the event. Milos event may be used to target individuals, either in the audience or by using their personal information in a way that causes them to become human targets to serve a political agenda.
The letter expressed concerns that Yiannopoulos a British writer for the right-wing opinion site Breitbart News will use his appearance to kick off a campaign targeting the undocumented student community on our campus, and linked to an article published Tuesday on the site.
The article begins: Milo and the (conservative think tank) David Horowitz Freedom Center have teamed up to take down the growing phenomenon of sanctuary campuses that shelter illegal immigrants from being deported.
It continues: Backed by the Freedom Center (Yiannopoulos) will call for the withdrawal of federal grants and the prosecution of university officials who endanger their students with their policies, starting with UC President and former Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano and Berkeley Chancellor Nicholas Dirks.
The article coincides with an executive order issued Friday by President Donald Trump banning travel to the United States from citizens of seven majority-Muslim countries for 90 days that has wreaked havoc in international travel and left many students stranded.
The UC Berkeley letter warns the Republican hosts of the event that Yiannopoulos could target individual students holding up their photos or revealing personal information about them during the speech that will be live-streamed, putting students at risk.
Other targeted groups on our campus have experienced Horowitz tactic of publicizing the names and pictures of individuals on posters throughout campus property, and there is a likelihood that there will be Horowitz-backed posters pasted throughout our campus, the letter said.
Representatives of the Berkeley College Republicans did not respond to requests for comment.