A federal judge has decided that the University of California at Berkeley must respond to a lawsuit over anarchist attacks on campus when a conservative speaker, Milo Yiannopoulos, was scheduled to appear.
Visitors on campus to hear him were caught up in the riots carried out by anarchists, prompting a damage complaint on behalf of John Jennings and others against the president of the University of California system, Janet Napolitano, and others.
Freedom X Law said Wednesday its complaint is moving forward.
“After two years of legal wrangling, including two motions filed by the University of California, Berkeley, to dismiss a lawsuit targeting the university for allowing anarchist demonstrators to viciously attack visitors to the campus attending a conservative event there, a federal district judge in Oakland, California has decided that injured victims of the attacks can proceed with their lawsuit,” the organization announced.
Shortly after the election of President Trump, anarchists and other leftists planned to riot when they learned that Yiannopoulos was scheduled to speak on the campus.
“Rockets and incendiary devices were fired at police, the student union campus building where Milo was scheduled to appear was besieged and severely damaged, Trump supporters were assaulted, fires were ignited, and the riot then spilled out onto city streets where windows were smashed and businesses vandalized,” said a Zombie report.
“Much of the violence was at first initiated by a large contingent of masked self-styled ‘anarchists,’ but they were cheered on and encouraged by the overall crowd of several thousand protesters who screamed ‘Shut it down!’ and ‘—- the police!’ as the black-clad anarchists began smashing things up and throwing firebombs.”
The case was filed in the United States District Court, Northern Division, Oakland.
“Judge Claudia Wilkin ruled that the UC Berkeley police created a dangerous situation that exposed the plaintiffs to attacking demonstrators by closing off escape routes and that the plaintiffs have alleged sufficient facts for the case to go forward,” the legal team said.
Freedom X president and chief counsel Bill Becker stated the decision should cause UC Berkeley to think twice about fully litigating the case.
“Even in liberal Oakland, we were able to obtain a fair ruling,” Becker stated. “President Trump will soon be issuing a campus Free Speech executive order to prevent universities from encouraging assaults on conservatives. This victory assists in advancing that goal.”
The court reviewed two motions to dismiss on behalf of the school and other defendants. And while the judge found some claims could be dispensed with immediately, there were sufficient grounds to move forward.
She found: “Plaintiffs are four individuals who had planned to attend an event featuring Milo Yiannopoulos, a conservative gay media personality and political commentator. The event was hosted at UCB by a registered student organization. Plaintiffs are now bringing suit against UCB defendants and private citizens …. Who were alleged to be rioters in attendance protesting Yiannopoulos, along with Riot DOE defendants.”
They were caught between the rioters and building doors that campus police had ordered locked.
One officer who ordered the doors locked allegedly said, “Those people are on their own.”
“Plaintiffs sufficiently plead that affirmative actions taken by defendants … placed plaintiffs in danger,” the judge said, noting that the plaintiffs “sufficiently allege that defendants … acted with a purpose to harm.”
