CPAC 2019: Trump vows to sign decree asking colleges to "support freedom of expression"



[ad_1]

"If they want our dollars and we give them by the billions, they have to allow people like Hayden and a lot of other young and old people to talk," Trump said in part of his two hour speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland.

The president did not give more details about the order.

Trump was referring to Hayden Williams, a conservative activist who recently made headlines after being hit in the face at the University of California at Berkeley earlier this week. The president took out Williams at the time of the announcement.

"Ladies and gentlemen, he took a punch in the face for all of us," said Trump.

Conservative activist allegedly attacked on Berkeley campus

The video of the incident shows Williams and another man struggling before the man hits Williams in the face, making him fall off the hat.

We then see the suspect approaching Williams' face and insulting him. He hits Williams one more time in the face before moving away.

Williams was at the University of Berkeley to recruit students for a chapter to create Turning Point USA, a conservative advocacy group that presents itself as a right-wing alternative to liberal activism on college campuses .

A Williams spokesman said he was a field representative of the Leadership Institute, a group that helps train conservative leaders.

Neither Williams nor the man suspected of having hit him are students of UC Berkeley.

The police department of the University of California said they identified the suspect as Zachary Greenberg and arrested him. The police added that the case would be presented to the district attorney's office for "criminal charge filing".

Chancellor of the University of Berkeley, Carol Christ, and Vice Chancellor Stephen C. Sutton, condemned the incident in a statement released Thursday.

"This kind of behavior is intolerable and does not belong here," the statement said. "Our commitment to freedom of expression and belief is unwavering."

[ad_2]

Source link