NEW YORK (AP) — Fights broke out when the founder of a far-right men’s organization appeared at New York University, leading to 11 arrests — the second time this week that violence halted a controversial speech at a U.S. university.
The speaker, Gavin McInnes, was hit by pepper spray during the fracas that erupted when protesters turned up to disrupt his speech Thursday night in New York City, school officials said.
McInnes is the founder of a group called the “Proud Boys.” He dubs himself a “western chauvinist,” uses racial epithets in his essays and has argued that women make less money because they are less ambitious than men.
McInnes was invited to speak by the NYU College Republicans. His appearance sparked a protest by a group called the NYU Anti-Fascists.
NYU spokesman John Beckman says McInnes tried to continue but stopped when protesters rushed into the room and shouted him down.
Police said those arrested face charges including criminal mischief and disorderly conduct.
McInnes was a co-founder of Vice Media. He and Vice severed ties in 2008.
On Wednesday, protesters hurled smoke bombs, broke windows and started a bonfire before Milo Yiannopoulos, an editor of Breitbart News, appeared at the University of California at Berkeley. The violence led officials there to cancel his talk out of safety concerns.
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