The on-again, off-again speech by conservative pundit Ann Coulter at the University of California, Berkeley appears to be off again.
Coulter told The New York Times in an email Wednesday that she was unlikely to give the speech because local law enforcement and the university could not guarantee her safety amid fears of violent protests.
"It's a sad day for free speech," she told the paper.
Just a day earlier, Coulter had told UC Berkeley student groups that she intended to speak on campus Thursday.
Two student groups who were planning to host Coulter have since withdrawn from the event.
On Wednesday, the president of one group, BridgeCal, said that the refusal of campus police to guarantee Coulter's safety and the escalation of rhetoric surrounding what was initially planned to be a discussion on immigration had motivated their decision.
"Ann herself is using this a little to her advantage _ to engage in the test of free speech," said Pranav Jandhyala. He said he found Coulter's recent public comments "unnecessarily provocative."
"We can't endorse an event like that," Jandhyala said.
The other student host, Berkeley College Republicans, also withdrew its invitation, The New York Times reported. The group and its lawyers in free speech litigation against Berkeley planned an afternoon news conference on campus to discuss the decision.
A UC Berkeley spokesman said the campus had received no word on Coulter's plans _ either from her or from those groups who offered to host her visit.
"The threats she mentions in her new message to The New York Times are the exact reason we want her to come on a day when a protectable venue is available," said spokesman Dan Mogulof. "We have always been concerned for her safety."
On the heels of three violent clashes this year between extreme left and right groups, administrators sought at first to cancel, then delay, Coulter's appearance.
Chancellor Nicholas Dirks released a public statement Wednesday that attributed the risk of mayhem and free speech challenges to "outside groups."
"This is a university, not a battlefield," Dirks said in the statement. "The strategies necessary to address these evolving threats are also evolving, but the simplistic view of some _ that our police department can simply step in and stop violent confrontations whenever they occur _ ignores reality."
The chancellor said that despite the threats, "we have, and will remain, ready to welcome her to campus, and assume the risks, challenges and expenses that will attend her visit. That is demanded by our commitment to free speech. What we will not do is allow our students, other members of the campus community, and the public to be needlessly endangered by permitting an event to be held in a venue that our police force does not believe to be protectable."
Coulter's appearance was to be paid for by the Virginia-based Young America's Foundation. The Berkeley College Republicans and the foundation filed a federal free speech lawsuit Monday, accusing the university of using security concerns as a guise to censor conservative viewpoints. On Tuesday, Young America's Foundation pulled out as Coulter's official sponsor, saying it would continue the lawsuit but would not "jeopardize the safety of its staff or students" in the face of the dangers presented by an outdoor appearance.
In February, a campus event featuring right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos was shut down when the venue was swarmed by demonstrators _ including some in masks who tore down barricades and smashed windows.
Two subsequent rallies have been staged in Berkeley by conservative groups, each time drawing out anti-fascist protesters as well as white nationalists and resulting in violent clashes, beatings and arrests.
Coulter is scheduled to appear Friday at a sold-out fundraiser for the Republican Party of Stanislaus County.
Organizer Janice Keating said the party chose Coulter due to her ability to draw a crowd. Demonstrations were not expected, Keating said, but "we're prepared as best we can be."
The organization has hired private security to bolster the protective efforts of the Modesto Police Department.
