Full speech by Ben Shapiro at UC Berkeley, Thursday, September 14th

(Reprinted from BloviatingZeppelin.net with permission.)

Because, as everyone knows, Ben Shapiro is such an overbearing individual and cuts such an oppressive, racist, sexist, -ist and -obe swath seldom seen before, and should never have been allowed to speak at UC Berkeley this past Thursday. Yet he was.

 As opposed to prior events where Berkeley PD and the UC Berkeley polices forces chose to stand down as ordered, however, the riots failed to cook off this time because officers were out in force and were clearly a presence. This time they countenanced no one, for example, wearing masks. That predominantly eliminates Antifa.

Hold that thought. I'm coming back to it.

But first, Ben Shapiro's entire speech including a Q and A session with audience members.

 

Coverage of the arrests outside the speech in Berkeley, by FoxNews.com:

Ben Shapiro speech at UC Berkeley results in arrests at protests

At least nine people were arrested Thursday night related to protests at the University of California, Berkeley, over an appearance by former Breitbart editor Ben Shapiro.

UC Berkeley spokesman Dan Mogulof said the security measures could cost $600,000. Mogulof called the speech "a successful event" and said the university was committed to hosting speakers like Shapiro in the future.

Stop. Question: just who cost the university $600,000? That's correct. Its Leftist students. Seems like freedom really isn't free, is it UC Berkeley? Not when you have rioters for students.

The evening did have its share of hiccups. Police said three arrests were weapons-related. Among them: -- Hannah Benjamin, 20, was arrested for battery on a police officer and carrying a banned weapon. -- Sarah Roark, 44, was taken into custody for carrying a banned weapon. The arrests were announced on the police Twitter account. The demonstrators, however, were largely peaceful. Some chanted against fascism, white supremacists and President Donald Trump. Others were holed up inside a student building, waving signs protesting the university's decision to allow Shapiro on campus. Inside the hall, Shapiro addressed a friendly crowd. He encouraged people to hold civil discussions with people who have different opinions, saying that's what America is all about. He condemned white supremacists as "a very small select group of absolutely terrible people who believe absolutely terrible things." The campus and surrounding Berkeley streets were under tight security after a series of previous events turned violent. City and campus officials anticipated protests against Shapiro, and prepared for possible violence with a variety of new strategies and tightened security. It was not immediately clear whether the people arrested Thursday were protesters.

Back to my reference to law enforcement.

Four points.

First: Berkeley police agencies decided to utilize actual preparation this time in concert with some proactivity as well, to include the disallowance of persons wearing face covering as is customary with Antifa elements.

Second: Berkeley police agencies came out in force with barriers, gear, presence and plans in place.

Third: They did not stand back as they had in times past, instead making arrests, preventing injury to citizens and protecting property, which proves:

Fourth: When persons were injured seriously and property torched and damaged on prior occasions in Berkeley, it was quite now clearly due to law enforcement stepping back on orders from agency heads in concert with the BAMN/Antifa-supporting Mayor of Berkeley, Jesse Arreguin. How do we know this? Because of admissions from Berkeley Police Chief Andrew Greenwood and because of the results on Thursday.

This means that those people injured and those businesses and persons suffering property damage should individually and collectively sue the City of Berkeley, City of Berkeley Police Department, the Mayor of Berkeley and the UC Berkeley Police Department for negligence, as well as advocate prosecution under California penal code 182 PC for conspiracy, RICO, and federal code 42 USC § 1983, Civil action for Deprivation of Rights -- as I delineated in this post.

Because up until last Thursday in Berkeley, what happened was this:

Americans were left to fight it out on the streets of the United States as law enforcement officers were either forced to or willingly allowed violence to occur directly in front of their eyes.

And that is absolutely unacceptable, unsustainable and anathema to actual keepers of oaths.

Oh please, let the suits commence.

Finally, as UC Berkeley itself pointed out: walls work.

BZ