Ann Coulter Vows to Speak at Berkeley Despite University Calling It Off

UC Berkeley announced a day earlier that it was calling off Coulter's planned April 27 speaking event because of security concerns, prompting Coulter to say she plans to come anyway.

She fired off a series of angry tweets on Wednesday, writing, "FAKE NEWS!".

Coulter was originally scheduled to speak at the university on Thursday, after she was invited by student groups that have been described as campus Republicans.

A spokesman for the university said that they were concerned that the timing of Coulter's April 27 event, late afternoon, would create a risk for protests and violence continuing into the evening when many commuters and students are in the area.

The letter was written by Vice Chancellor Scott Biddy and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Stephen Sutton.

"Why she sees those as demands we're uncertain, because they were simply the recommendations we received from our police department about what would be required to protect her and, most importantly, to maximise the chances that the event could be held successfully and safely".

Black-clad protesters set fires and smashed windows as they shut down Yiannopoulos' lecture at Berkeley in February.

In her email, Coulter said she is still planning to give her speech, and YAF spokesman Spencer Brown said she has told them that she plans to appear at Berkeley on April 27. "After acceding to all their requirements, which were also arbitrary and silly, and they claimed it was on the basis of safety, I suggested two measures that actually would allow free speech to exist on Berkeley if they wanted it to".

"As the home of the Free Speech Movement, we fully support the right and ability of our students to host speakers of their choice", Dirks said at Thursday's news conference announcing the May 2 date, noted the Daily Californian.

"What are they going to do?" "We will disclose the exact location of the venue once we have finalized details with both organizations".

Mogulof said the university hoped to be able to reschedule Coulter's appearance some time in September, after identifying an appropriate venue and working out security arrangements.

The university's response was to ban her speech. "I'm giving a speech", countered Coulter.

In its letter, Berkeley officials partially blamed Young America's Foundation for inviting Coulter and setting a date without consulting them first.

She added in another post that she had instructed the Republican student group that invited her "to spare no expense in renting my speaking venue - part of my legal damages".

In recent weeks there have been clashes between supporters of President Donald Trump and left-wing protesters in San Francisco, with 20 arrested in Berkeley on Saturday as violence broke out between rival groups at a pro-Trump rally.

- Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter)GOOD NEWS FOR CA TAXPAYER!