Trump Threatens University's Funding After Milo Protest

President says UC Berkeley had better allow 'free speech,' not '[practice] violence'
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 2, 2017 10:23 AM CST
Trump Threatens University's Funding After Milo Protest
University of California-Berkeley police guard the building where Breitbart News editor Milo Yiannopoulos was to speak Wednesday.   (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

The UC Berkeley campus erupted in anger Wednesday night during a protest that turned violent against a scheduled speech by far-right Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos (the speech ended up being canceled). President Trump weighed in on the incident on Twitter, per the Hill, and it was clear from his message which side he planted his feet on. "If U.C. Berkeley does not allow free speech and practices violence on innocent people with a different point of view - NO FEDERAL FUNDS?" he tweeted early Thursday.

Per Business Insider, the school received $370 million in research funding from the government in fiscal year 2015-16, according to the school's own stats. Politico notes that Trump has also threatened to pull federal funds from so-called sanctuary cities for immigrants. (More President Trump stories.)

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