MILO is Not Welcome in Appalachia: A Report Back from WVU

morgantownultraleftnetwork:

Milo
Yiannopoulos took the stage at West Virginia University on Thursday,
December 1, to kick off the second leg of his Dangerous Faggot Tour.
In spite of outspoken complaints from revolutionaries and liberals
alike, university president Gordon Gee and the rest of the
administration declined to cancel the event, rebuffing those who
preferred not to have a known fascist speak at their university with
some contemptuous words denouncing safe spaces and an appeal to that
infamous spook, the right to free speech.

A
group of masked communists, carrying tongue-in-cheek signs entered
the building at approximately 7:30. We chanted “No Milo, no KKK, no
fascist USA!” and “Nazi nazi nazi, out out out!” as the
assembled fascists, rent-a-cops, redditors, and others attempted to
drown us out with awkward insults. As we attempted to push forward to
enter the lecture hall, men who we have determined were part of
Milo’s private security team walked out to intercept us with force.
Our willingness to show that we would return blow for blow and shove
for shove soon made them think better of that. We later learned that
when the people inside became aware of our disruption, they
immediately began to chant, “Grab her by the pussy!.” The short
scuffle between us and the security team ended as the WVU Police
intervened and formed a barrier.

It
was readily apparent that none of Milo’s lapdogs were going to do
anything that mattered, and we continued to raise a ruckus until the
man himself came mincing out to greet us. Milo, unfortunately, pulled
a slick move and had his cameraman steal one of our signs from around
the police line. Milo himself never crossed the line of police and
after the interruption was thrown off his game for the rest of his
talk. While we had hoped to completely shut the event, we were glad
to see that the event was hampered to a slow dull.

The
pigs were curiously subdued throughout the whole scene, probably
because Milo wasn’t important enough for actual police protection
and had to make due with WVU’s campus cops. After a long series of
confrontations, we were gradually inched back to the outside doorway.
We surrounded the glass entryway, banging on the walls and continued
letting the fascists know they weren’t welcome. Contrary to the
Breitbart account of the incident, we were not “promptly”
dismissed by security. We stayed for what was probably 25 minutes,
enough time to make the event clearly chaotic, lecture one neckbeard
that emerged from the mass on the finer points of anarchist
communism, and might have stayed longer if a clever comrade hadn’t
pulled the fire alarm. That Milo was visibly flustered by this is
readily apparent to anyone who cares to watch the video, in spite of
the attempt to hide it via editing. He never really got back into his
groove, and the whole sad spectacle of his speech ended more with a
whimper than a bang. We sang “Solidarity Forever” and then
sauntered away into the night.

During
his lecture, Milo showed a slide with an image of WVU’s well-known
gay professor Daniel Brewster, labeled “fat faggot.” Milo, after
mislabeling Brewster as a “leftist,” accused him of bullying
conservative students, and concluded “he’s here to punish you for
having the wrong political opinions and to eat cake.” Milo’s
followers had been harassing Brewster on social media all day leading
up to the event. We
aren’t the biggest fans of Brewster’s liberal positions but no one
deserves this kind of vicious treatment. This is the “respectful,
open, and enlightening exchange of ideas” that WVU President Gordon
Gee fetishizes and  encouraged by giving Milo a platform on campus.
Gee frantically backpedaled in a series of tweets that night and
issued a milquetoast apology the next day. We knew he couldn’t care
less about we the students, but clearly he doesn’t give a damn
about this kind of vile treatment of one of his own staff, either.
President Gee and WVU utilized Brewster’s name over the years to make
the university seem like a safe and welcoming place for queer
students, but have now thrown him under the bus. This isn’t about
hurt feelings but actively creating a dangerous environment.

While
we are glad with the precedent set in regards to tactics and
rhetoric, there are things we could have done better. We obviously
were not able to break through the police line and completely shutter
the event, and useful intel was not deployed that could have made the
action more successful. The weakness of the police also threw us off
since we had gone in expecting a more forceful reaction. With all
this in mind, much was gained from our showing. This was the first
time many of us had directly confronted police and in doing so we
established stronger affinity and trust amongst ourselves. We hope to
have set a strong precedent going forward and are excited to see
friends and comrades confront this loser in the coming months at
other campuses.