Posted on 02/06/2017 6:35:28 PM PST by nickcarraway
Members and people with loose affiliations to the group have had their contact information stolen.
Members of the student group that invited alt-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos to UC Berkeley say they have been physically assaulted and targeted online in the days since Wednesday’s fiery protests.
“We’re probably the most harassed group on campus right now,” said Naweed Tahmas, a member of the Berkeley College Republicans. He noted that the club needed a security detail for a meeting last Thursday, a sign that tensions between the group and the area's liberal-leaning majority may have hit an apex.
“I’ve been spit on, my friends have been punched … our pictures have been posted online,” Tahmas said. “I’ve been followed when I was walking back from campus. Some guy came up to us and said, ‘I’ll catch you in the shadows.’ That sounded like a threat to us.”
Yiannopoulos, a Breitbart editor known for espousing racist, transphobic and misogynistic views, was slated to speak to a crowd of about 500 at the behest of the conservative group. Police canceled the speech after a bloc of protesters broke windows, started fires and tried to storm the building where Yiannopoulos was located.
Many have speculated that the para-militarized bloc, clad in all black and wielding crowbars, were outsiders who came to campus. Students and administrators have since come out and condemned Wednesday's violence, which took place at what was originally intended to be a peaceful demonstration.
“I’ve dealt with people being intolerant to my political views on campus,” said group member Bradley Devlin, who describes himself as a moderate Republican. “But these people were seeking blood.”
Although some students have shown club members support since the protest, hostility and anger toward them has increased since Wednesday's events, Tahmas and Devlin said. When they hand out fliers in the campus hub, it's not uncommon for them to be spit on or have expletives yelled at them.
People with loose affiliations to the group have also been targeted. Several people told NBC Bay Area that they have been sent nefarious emails from a person threatening to “doxx” them, a practice in which personal information is leaked online. The emails stem from an incident Thursday, when club members were handing out fliers and a contact information sheet was stolen. A spokesperson for UCPD said the department is looking into the incident, but noted that the emails have not yet reached a criminal level.
Judging from the email, it appears the person threatening to release the information erroneously believes the sheet to be a roster of people who planned to attend the Yiannopoulos event. In fact, the list is mostly made up of people who are not members of Berkeley College Republicans but were interested in learning more about the group.
“I fully plan to publish the list of your names as attendees at the aforementioned campus event,” the email, signed by a blogger identifying himself as OLAASM, warned. “I don’t believe that participation – support – of an event of this nature should be shrouded in secrecy. I believe it is in the public interest to know who is doing this kind of thing.”
Tahmas said the email is tantamount to punishing a person for seeking alternative viewpoints on an issue.
Paul Iskajyan, a third-year political science student at UC Berkeley, signed the list to get updates on the group. He said he is “wholly opposed” to Yiannopoulos and says his views “greatly conflict” with that of the Berkeley College Republicans.
“A small part of me is worried that someone on the fringes might find this on the internet,” Iskajyan said.
Yiannopoulos has a history of targeting individuals with whom he disagrees politically. At a University of Milwaukee speaking engagement, he singled out and mocked a transgender student. Rumors swirled after the event that the Breitbart editor planned to read out a list of names of undocumented students at UC Berkeley, a claim Yiannopoulos denied.
Still, members of the Berkeley College Republicans said Yiannopoulos should have been able to go on with his appearance. Some are even going so far as to say he is the leader of a new free speech movement.
“Well, he’s a symbol of free speech for us," Tahmas said. "Whether we like it or not, maybe we could have a better vehicle. That’s not up to me. Right now, he’s the symbol of free speech on college campuses.”
Tahmas said the controversy surrounding Yiannopoulos’ visit have made the group more popular than ever.
“There’s definitely a silver lining there, but I wish it didn’t come to that,” he said. “But it did increase the membership, and the administration is taking us more seriously now.”
Source: Berkeley Republicans 'Doxxed,' Harassed After Protest | NBC Bay Area http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Berkeley-College-Republicans-Report-Harassment-Following-Milo-Protest-412965603.html#ixzz4XxlM7cM1 Follow us: @NBCBayArea on Twitter | NBCBayArea on Facebook
Any disagreement is heresy that must NOT be allowed to exist.
Sorry about the typo.
The left: dangerous when in charge. Bigly.
There is a solution to this issue.
Schedule conservative speeches and meetings during the time conservatives are generally available - like after normal working hours - say the evening.
Then a LOT of conservatives can show up to support the effort. If punches start flying make it a full fledged ass-whooping.
It will only take a few such incidents to convince these protesters that their cause really isn’t worth their well being.
I wear my MAGA hat and have been verbally accosted which generates an immediate response on my part. I may lose the fight when outnumbered but I guarantee I will take more than one down and down hard. They will not forget the fight.
Recall back to Kent State. College campuses were under siege. Anarchists convinced students to protest, occupy offices, burn things, and generally cause damage. All was fun and games until real bullets were fired. A real liberal can find no cause worth giving their life for so Kent State was the end of that nonsense.
It only takes a couple to lose their lives and this ends. Whether they get run over by a truck, shot by someone they attack or executed by a sniper - when your life is on the line no amount of Soros money will motivate you to burn a Korean grocery store.
Can’t they file a Multi Trillion Dollar lawsuit against Berkeley for creating a Hazardous an Discriminatory environment? Get video of these acts and File Formal Charges of HATE CRIMES,...
“I’m amazed that any conservative (or even moderate RINO type) would enroll there.”When I was applying to colleges (1971) two schools I was warned to stay away from were Oberlin and U C Berkeley : )
The parallels are ominous.
The brownshirts have taken over the universities.
My fondest memory of “Berkeley” are the scenes from “The Graduate”.
Just a note on OUR OWN reactions: If this kid’s photo was attached to a story about a lefty of some kind, we’d be getting a lot of “must be a homo” or “snowflake in mommy’s basement” commentary. I plead guilty to that offense, forming an opinion from the visual before reading the text.
I hear you, and I too would probably be guilty as well. His unusual name prompted me to look him up, because the article said he was a Trump supporter who belonged to the Republican Club at UC Berkeley.
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