Penn State Cancels Proud Boys Speech

Penn State University has canceled the speech that was scheduled to be given by Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes on Monday night. The event was canceled 45 minutes before its intended start due to the copious amounts of violent protesting, which included pepper spray and physical violence being inflicted on others, including police officers.

Penn State President Neeli Bendapudi said it had begun as a “peaceful protest” until internet troll Alex Stein walked through the crowd to agitate them. Penn State wanted students to know they didn’t agree with the far-right group’s way of speaking, but still wanted students to witness free speech and be able to go to an event later that appealed to their beliefs. “Tonight, the message too many people will walk away with is that one can manipulate people to generate free publicity, or that one can restrict speech by escalating protest to violence,” Bendapudi said. “These are not ideas that we can endorse as an institution of higher education.”